Black Panther The End Begins
by Tetsuna
Summary: Miroku and Sango die tragically, bringing down Naraku with them, and leaving their spirits lost. Now, their souls have resided in two people, where they will meet again, where love will brew once more.
1. To Start the Tale

All right, folks, this is my second fic. Really, at first, it had nothing to do with Inuyasha, but I wanted people to tell me what they thought about it so I made a few adjustments to make the story flow. Tell me what you think, puh-lease… and REVIEW, dipwads!

Disclaimer: Ay, this is the hardest part of fanfics, the disclaimers. Of course, I have bribed Rumiko takahashi to sell Inuyasha to me, but I'm broke and one hundred bucks probably won't be much to her. sniffles

Chapter One

Aya, where were Inuyasha and Kagome when you needed them most? In the well, just when Naraku decided to attack. _That _was luck.

The Hirankontsu flew about 100 feet up in the air, cutting through the illuminated purple barrier and returning to Sango, who held her stomach. Another kick. Kilala ran in front, angry by the look on Naraku's face. His smile became nearly manical, and in one swift strike, he cut Sango across the neck. The bundle she had kept under her clothing rolled out, the baby wailed.

Miroku ran up behind, smelling the blood, seeing her limp body on the ground. His heart stopped beating for a moment… Sango… his dear Sango… what had happened? Then Kilala came up behind him, scared and sniffing Sango's corpse… ensuring that she was gone. Tears ran down his cheeks, stinging the cuts that were already there, but he didn't care. Now that Sango was dead, what was the point in living? He would fight to the death now, let the baby continue its life for Sango's sake.

"Kilala," he croaked. "Stay put. Make sure the baby is fine…"

"Wind Tunnel," it took the last of his strength to say that. Naraku, who had seen only Kilala, and was not prepared to be defeated by a mortal. Both he and his numerous poisonous bees were sucked into it, but not before he had sent one more strike to the fire cat, sending it through the air, and Kilala landed, as a kitten now, on her owner's lap, to join her into eternal sleep.

Miroku prepared himself for the stings. For the poison to overcome him. And it did.

The morning came without warning, and Kagome came through the well, carrying her daughter on her back. She saw a small bundle; she sensed death. Picking it up and opening the cover, she gasped.

"This is Miroku and Sango's child. How'd did you…?"

The next sight made her clutch her own child and theirs, tears brimming up to her eyes.

Miroku. Sango. Kilala. Dead. With the Hirankotsu lying to the side of all of them.

She screamed in grief, clinging to the baby boy for dear life. Opening up the bundle.

For the first time ever, she realized how little he looked like either of his parents. Pale green eyes, little tufts of light brown hair. Nothing like what Miroku or Sango looked like.

He was their baby, and the village they lived in accepted him there. That was where Kohaku lived. Kagome smiled, wiping a tear from her eyes. She knew that Sango would want Kohaku to raise the child, knew that she and Miroku deserved a more decent burial.

After arriving at the village, and telling Kohaku the horrible news, the now grown man vowed to take care of the baby, and also to take revenge on all the detachments of Naraku, not including Kagura, because she had already died in an attempt to betray Naraku.

And the baby had been treated like a prince. After all, he was all they had to remind them of Sango, Miroku, and Kilala, who were now nothing but lost souls, searching for a new beginning. They found it, 1,000 years later…

Sango in a little girl on her family's side named India, a lost, forlorn child in a rich home, not allowed to do anything at all.

Miroku in a child at the same village his son had been left in, a child with certain powers that were unimaginable.

Kilala in a seraphim creature who ending up with similar abilities and even more to add on, and a sharp mouth.

They were reunited, then met the same fate, two of them killed by one of Naraku's detachment's, Kanna's, descendants, who had grown to be as ugly on the outside as Kanna was in. Or as empty. But not without leaving each side of the family with a curse. The souls were lost now. They had to find a place to stay. They had to find a happy ending.

And finally, they found it. Even later, when the curse had made the families suffer to the point that each formed a sort of tribe. Over the years, their agility, strength and flexibility, and ability to handle strange weapons became worthy of becoming part of history, where those who had studied the past of Japan would be able to distinguish both. Every child was handled with care, taught to fight, made to learn vigorously about their ancestors. The plan to get vengeance- even more déjà vu. Except they would fix some of the situations slightly. They would win, and live, destroying what was left of Naraku's descendants, to end the blood feud.

Both tribes curses seemed rather bearable at first, but after the years, they found that they were wrong. The women of the boy's side, or Kawachi tribe were unable to have girls, and their years slowly shortened… that was the root of the plan, to make those of the tribe extinct with time, to wipe them out without a trace of blood for liability reasons.

The woman's side, or Hinoshiba tribe, had exactly the opposite… no men… forcing many women to become widows after some time. At the same time, they were both blessed, with a Chosen child from each side every hundred years or so, or if they were reunited. And that Chosen would be endowed with the same powers as their ancestor years ago, that were brutally murdered by Kanna's descendants.

The rain poured outside, but Kimihiro's grip on the Countour-300 remained unchanged. Rain is just little tiny drops of water, they didn't intimidate her in any way, and there was no reason for it to. Rain, rain, of all things, was the least of her problems.

She walked outside, Serafin following her, soaking up the water, and enjoying it. It had been so long since she had been let out of the house, so long since she'd smelled the rain directly…

"Kimihiro," her mother ran to her before she left, looked down at her now grown child, and embraced her. Kimihiro felt the air being knocked out of her as soon as her mother wrapped her arms around her.

"Yeeg, mom! Get off!" was the muffled answer.

"I'm so sorry, it's just… my baby, you could get killed! All for this stupid blood feud…"

"But grandmother said that no one in the family has been killed yet. All I'm going to do is find some stupid, ignorant boy from the Kaiwaichi tribe, get some youkai's head, and return home with an unbroken curse and ten pounds lighter." She knew she was exaggerating. It was a lot to do, too much, and all of her tasks were so intensely _weird. _Sighing, she hugged her mother, "I love you mom. I'll come back, I'll come back."

Nodding her head at Serafin, who doubled in size, she hopped on her back and flew off into the starry night.

"KIMIHIRO!" her mother called into the night. 

Kimihiro sighed. She wasn't scared of course, she wasn't. Okay, maybe a little, maybe a lot. She twisted one of Serafin's silver hairs around her finger.

Serafin was a strange-looking, yet eerily beautiful, creature. She had soft, moist, blue-ish skin, with a dog like face and a mask around the head, a dolphin's tail, and long, silver-gray hair falling like a mane from her back. She was a mystical creature, of course, the kinds you read about in little fantasy books but 'know' are nonexistent. But Serafin was special, in the way that not only was she over two hundred years old and still young, but that she had multiple powers. Serafin could change her legs to flippers at any moment or time of her choice, blow both fire and blast water, and she could fly, not to mention expand to the size of a small airplane. Years before, she could also communicate with people through their minds, but that unused habit had rusted, and instead she 'cooed' when she wanted to talk. Her coos were very audible, and understandable, for some strange reason, it was like a language everyone understands.

"Serafin," she whispered. "Let's stop by some water tomorrow. We haven't been flying ten minutes and I already feel sticky."

"Suck it up," came the haughty answer.

"I'll let you swim…" She continued, turning over to lie on her back instead.

"I could swim with or without your permission, that's nothing special."

"I'll let you blow fire at the next person who invades our privacy…"

"How many times must I say this… You-DO-NOT-CON-TROL-ME!"

Pouting, Kimihiro folded her arms, then started braiding the silvery strands again.

"Pretty please?"  
"You're a suck-up."  
"With ice cream? I know you like ice cream?"  
"Vanilla?"  
"Oh, sure…"  
"Then fine. We stop by the river tomorrow."  
It was a very silly argument, the kind that people get into just because they are intensely bored, and have absolutely nothing to do except fool around.

The moon was high in the sky now, as Serafin started to near the Kaiwaichi tribe village. Intentional déjà vu, that was their plan. Centuries before, Kimihiro's great-great-grandmother India had run away from home, found Serafin at a river site, met some boy at a village, lived there, fell in love, had a child, and was murdered. They would go up to the point where they met some boy at a village, but Kimihiro had refused point blank to stay there for longer than two days.

"Men are hogs," she had said. "They get what they want from you, then dump you like trash wherever they can."

Serafin had heartily agreed. She had never been to fond of the boy, and would never forgive him for taking India away from her.

"Serafin, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up later."

Closing her eyes, she snuggled into Serafin's mane and started a dreamfilled sleep.

She woke up by the river. Good. That meant that Serafin had kept her promise.

"Finally, you're awake," the Beast cooed. "Do you have my vanilla ice cream?" Kimihiro laughed, brushing her hair from her face as she scooped some water from the shallow area and splashed it on her face.

"Serafin, cover me."  
In other words, keep an eye out for sneaking little beings, man or creature.

The Beast cooed in agreement, then started flying directly overhead her, to see anyone approaching from any direction. Kimihiro began to pull off her clothes.

"Serafin?" she asked, as she threw her sock over with the rest of her belongings, "Aren't you tired, you know, of flying? You can come down and swim if you like, I don't need too much protection. Just, you know, for you to tell me if anyone's coming."

Serafin slid from the air into the water, tensing up immediately.

"There's something here," the creature hissed.

They were quiet, trying to catch any more sounds, but did not succeed. Kimihiro shrugged it off, rubbing her skin with the cool water.

Then she heard a splash. Turning her head to a side, she saw a boy come into the water, his pants rolled up. He was dressed strangely, with what looked like a black shirt under a beige kimono-like jacket and jeans. His hair was long, light-brown and in one ponytail that seemed to separate by itself into two separate strands as he moved along in the water. Not looking at her.

Hee hee. Cliffhanger. I hate the first couple chapters, they are so boring to write, so fun to read. Have I confused you yet? I'll clear everything up later, bear with me. Please review, I'd really appreciate it if everyone who read it did. I wanna know how people think of my fics, you know, and this is only my second, my first, The Fight for the Heart, wasn't popular at all… so please be kind to Lady Kitsune and review, 'kay? Just, I want down to earth reviews, not the type that diss my imagination and put my work to shame. Those are just rude, and if you write one like that, my brain automatically categorizes you as a stupid, arrogant, inconsiderate person, that you very easily might not be and will force me to answer quite as rudely back. It's bad enough to start a verbal war on the boards. Let's keep safe from all that crap too, 'kay?  
Ya, I know, Lady Kitsune is not my pen name, but I just happen to be sharing this account with someone since my email doesn't wanna work for me…my buddy writes Harry Potter fics, and here I am writing Inuyasha ones… we are so different, but hey!


	2. Kawaichi Chosen

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: But I want Inuyasha! Ah well, he doesn't appear much in this fic anyway, at least not till later chappies… but I'll say it. I don't own him. There.

But can have Kenshin instead?  
Ah, I can already hear the answer. No, you may not have Kenshin, that you can't.

Kimihiro tensed up, easing towards the bank to grab a towel, trying not to make a sound as she reached for it.

Then she made a splash. 'Baka, baka, baka!' she thought, as he turned to her. Their eyes met, she sweatdropped.

So he was cute. 'Okay, fine. He's absolutely hot,' she thought, her face reddening. 'But he could help by looking away…'

But he didn't. Instead, he was wading towards her.

"The nerve," she whispered, now almost growling, but she found that she couldn't move. It was as though her legs had turned to butter. He came only about a foot away from her, she slid into the water more. Then he smiled weakly, reaching for her arms.  
"Wow…" he was mumbling. "An angel… I never thought they existed… I am sorry to interrupt you, angel, but please, may I touch your wings…?"  
He reached again, almost touching a very unpleasant place.

'He's drunk,' she thought. 'But why at such a young age?'

Now he came only about 6 inches from her, and was moving his hands down her arms. She pulled away, scared, then, reaching for the Contour, gave him a jolt with it that sent him out of the water and into a tree. He made a strange noise, then landed at the base, unconscious. Kimihiro turned to Seraphim, fuming.

"Why didn't you do anything?"

The Beast had a strange look in her eyes, and shrugged her shoulders, which looked funny on her dog-like figure. "Cause he wasn't lying."  
"Now you've lost it. I do not have wings."

"No, dunce. He's been given hallucinogens. I can smell it all over him. And I don't think that he took them on purpose, I smelled apple juice too."  
Kimihiro grabbed her towel, red in the face and staring out at the person who was now unconscious. Mouthing a 'sorry,' she reached out and poked him.

"Hello? Wake up. Gosh, I hope I didn't kill him…"

But then she felt something rubbing on her thighs. She looked down, finding that that 'something' was his hand.

"Ugh!" Jumping back, she blasted him in the face again, this time truly knocking him out. She fumed now.  
"I change my mind. Kill him, Serafin." The Beast merely grunted, doubling in size.

"Nah. I think we should be nice for once, and find out where he came from. Maybe he can snap out of it there. I'm sure he just thought that your legs are wings, too."  
Kimihiro glared at her, then growled, "Serafin. Cover me, for real this time. I can't stand in front of this druggy pervert in just a towel." The Beast seemed to shrug rather mockingly, then abruptly doubled again, standing in front of her and curling her now huge tail over to hide Kimihiro's body from any prying eyes. She dressed quickly, grabbing the Contour again and half heartedly dragging the boy and putting him on Serafin's tail.

"Hmph. But he pays us back. Deal?"  
"Whatever. I wouldn't mind a servant that much at all, and you know that, Kimihiro. I need someone to fish for me, since you won't do it."

Kimihiro rolled her eyes, pushing the boy's limp body up to the back.

"He's heavy. What have they been feeding him?" Serafin had already started complaining, and she hadn't even gotten him on her back yet.  
"It's all muscle."  
The Beast almost stared at her. "And how would you know that, dear?"  
She glared back. "Because I am the one pushing him, remember?" So she was attracted. What did that mean? She knew that if she was Mayumi she'd be shrieking with excitement and getting all over him. She stuck out her tongue in disgust, giving him a final shove and swinging herself onto Serafin, who launched into the sky.

Kimihiro turned around, flipping the boy over with some difficulty and caution, then grabbed his jacket. It was just a kimono, a pretty ugly one, really, the color of sand with long dark blue stripes down at the sleeve rim and at the bottom. Thank goodness there was a shirt underneath, she thought, quickly removing the kimono without stirring him. Lifting it up into the light, she squinted; there was a small blue shape adorned in one side. Pulling some of the fabric away, she squealed slightly and addressed Serafin.

The dark blue dragon that was curled up on his kimono glittered in the sunlight.

"Serafin. Go to the Kawaichi tribe village." The Beast nearly choked with laughter.

"So I am interpreting that from that comment that you already want to bring home a 'Kawaichi hottie' back to your mother?" Kimihiro scowled.

"The symbol is etched onto his jacket, stupid."  
Serafin would have turned around and bitten her if she wasn't in midair. "Don't you call me that. Or I'll stop right now and leave you _and _the boy in the middle of the forest."

"Gomen, Serafin." Now she was peeling the sleeve on his left shoulder up, in curiousity. Could he be…? She shook her head; it was too improbable. But yet again, there was still a chance if he was from the tribe…  
No, nothing there. Now the right shoulder's sleeve was going up. She shrieked.

The Kawaichi symbol, the same as on the kimono jacket, was on his shoulder, almost like a tattoo, a dark blue compliment to his skin.

One of his eyes shot open, and he pulled back. "Aack! Who… What?" Then he realized he was in midair, riding on some awkward looking creature with blue skin and silver hair.

"What were you trying to do to me?" He growled, looking down at her with fierce green eyes. Kimihiro hmphed. His tough guy approach didn't work on her, it never had. He pulled his sleeves down, then snatched his jacket back.

"Why, that's a lot of gratitude to give a person after they very graciously decide to be hospitable and take you back where you came from," she hissed. "Dearest Kawaichi Chosen. Or since you've been treated like a prince all your life, you expect royal treatment from us too? Ha! Well, you're not going to get it, mister… I don't care if you set me on fire and make your rocks fall down and crush my head—" She froze as his eyes softened and he put a finger to her lips. He smiled. It was charming; she screamed internally for her heart to stop beating so fiercely.

"No one's ever spoken to me like that. Who are you, exactly, angel? And how do you know who I am?" A twinkle came in his eyes as he said 'angel.' He obviously remembered something, at least a bit, of what had happened only minutes earlier.

"Kimihiro Hinoshiba. Don't call me 'angel.' And I looked at your shoulder, idiot."  
He didn't even flinch as she spoke to her, but instead smiled.

"Ah. So you're a Hinoshiba. We've heard of you." His smile grew even more mischievous, but then quickly disappeared as he took both of her hands in his and said plainly, "Well, then. Would you accept this favor?"  
She looked at him, confused. "Haven't I granted you enough favors for the day?" He ignored the comment.

"Would you do me the honors," he continued, a manic glint in his eyes, as though he were laughing internally, "Of…"  
Then he stopped in mid sentence, took a deep breath, and whispered to himself, "Resist temptation."  
She looked at him, the first word coming into her mind being, 'wacko.' Standing up carefully, she walked over to Serafin's head, "Are we almost there, Fin?"  
The Beast grunted. "I thought you might have forgotten I was here. All fixed up with your little boyfriend. Listen, little child back there, if you dare ask Kimihiro the question I knew you were going to, I'll bite your head off."  
Kimihiro turned to him, fuming. "What _were _you going to ask me." Her tone suggested that she was commanding him, not asking.  
The Kawaichi Chosen gulped. He had suspected, of course, that the Beast was a Seraphim's Pet, but of course he had not counted on it. Now he had proven himself right, it had already started suspecting him enough to be sneaking into his mind.

"Yes?" Serafin flipped her tail, making him jump slightly, he felt threatened by her gesture. "Or do you want me to tell her?"  
He blushed. Thoughts raced through his mind. Should he rather jump off and die of impact with the ground, or stay on and be brutally killed by these two charming, fuming ladies.

"Hm… would neither be fine, Seraphim's Pet? I have… ice cream."

Kimihiro turned to him, confused. She was the only one who knew Serafin's weakness, how would he?  
"Vanilla?" The tone of the Beast's voice changed completely as she mentioned her favorite flavor.

"Yea, whatever."

"Deal, but no more perverted thoughts, got that, mister?" She opened her mouth wide, and he very carefully crawled up to the top of her ears and opened a small container, letting all of it drop inside.

"Of course, that was for Midori, but I'm sure she won't mind." Meanwhile, Kimihiro stood still, eye twitching, red in the face.

"It was a _perverted _thought!" she screamed, the Contour automatically charging up to give him a blow.

"Oh you hush," Serafin cooed, enjoying the ice cream. "The stuff _you _were saying earlier was much worse than what he thought."  
He turned to Kimihiro. "Women can have perverted thoughts? Why don't you share them with me, I'd be very interested to see how the mind of a female contrasts with their mouth…"  
He wasn't angry; he was amused. It was a strange look, but suited him, the way a smile tugged at the corners of his lips and how his hair flew out behind him.

"Anyway, Kawaichi Chosen, what is your name?" It was a pretty dumb question; she knew the answer right after the question came out from her mouth. _Duh, Mom stuffed all those books on me, I already know his name. Poor guy… can't even get a unique name, just a simple, weird, Beyblade- stolen one… ugh…_

He obviously was thinking what she had, because he answered grimly, "Kai."

"I knew that."

"Of course you would, you're a Hinoshiba. Come here, would you?"  
She stared at him skeptically, then sat next to him. He came closer and closer, then started to nibble on her ear. She shrieked, about to pull away, but he had her in an iron grip, his hands sliding down…

I love torturing you guys! Not a lemon, but I'm posting this the same time as chapter one so I just wanna tell ya that if you reviewed, I don't know yet. If you didn't, screw you. (No, that is not an offer, you stupid hentais, you.)


	3. The Mistake

Chapter three

Disclaimer: Hello everyone! Hope you're having a nice day! ** cough cough **I must confess that I have stolen Inuyasha from Rumiko takahashi since she refused to sell him to me. Muhahaha! But did she think that'd get in my way? Never. Never! Inuyasha is mine! All of him! From the tip of his non-exisistent tail, up the the fuzzies on his ears!

Okay, no more funny stuff. I don't own Inuyasha. 

On wit da fic!

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he whispered, still nibbling like a little cat. "I just want to tell you before you ask, no, I cannot give you a show of my stupid powers. I can't use them… yet." He finally let go, but not without the tiniest of a stroke on her derriere (uh-oh, the Miroku spirit is kicking in, I'm sure you can guess what is previous question was). He found himself hanging on to Serafin's tail for dear life, a slap mark on his face and two singed holes in his clothes; the Contour was set to full power.

"Ugh! Y-You… You're despicable! How can you even touch a girl like that, you sicko? I suggest you hang on tight until we get to your village, because if you fall do not expect us to go after you, got that?"  
He didn't answer. His thoughts at the moment were filled with other… boyish fantasies.

_Next time I'll go for upper, _he thought to himself. (Hopefully ya know what I mean.)  
The journey continued for about an hour, and Kimihiro had to admit that she was impressed at how long he had managed to cling on. But her anger just built up more. She had trusted him for a moment, and he proved himself to be just like the boys in school.

"Hey!" he yelled out.

"Pervert." That was her answer. They finally slid to a bumpy stop right in front of the village (can you feel Kai's pain yet?): or at least Serafin said it was.

"Man, Fin! I can't see anything but forest over here! Are you sure this is his village?"

serafin nodded, slamming her tail into the ground, nearly burying him into the sandy soil. He barely made a sound, simply dodging her tail when it came down again, stretching out, then scrambling to an area with less brush. Reaching out into a pocket in his kimono, he pulled out a small penknife. Kimihiro stared at him as though he were crazy, but then he looked at it, cut a square into the ground, and waited casually.

Kimihiro shrieked, as it seemed to quadruple in size into a very threatening weapon, with a long, slender blade at the top, but a body like a spear. It was a metallic gold, with bright red and yellow feathers at the top, as though to cover up the blade.

"Cool…" she whispered, pulling a hand through her hair. He turned to her and smiled. "Glad you think so. Stand back."  
Her anger failed to fade, but she still took a step back as he brandished the sword-spear and sliced the bush down, beckoning for Kimihiro to follow, then staring Serafin right in the eye and saying, "You can come if you want, but I assure you, a Seraphim creature and a Hinoshiba girl will attract plenty of attention in this place."  
Serafin groaned, having been there and done that years before, and knowing what he meant. Yes, she had had to go through it with India, and the children, who she was sure had good intentions, had tugged on her hair and tail, demanded piggy-back rides.

"Yea, I think you're right. I'll stay put." She curled up into a ball, then closed her eyes. "I seriously need a nap."

Kimihiro stared at Serafin, then glared at the boy. How was she supposed to leave with _him? _Alone? She frowned, biting her lip.

"I'll stay too."  
"No you will not," Serafin said, bored. "I want to go fishing afterwards, and I don't need a tag-along little girl bugging me."  
Glaring at the Beast, Kimihiro adjusted the Contour on her arm as a warning to him, making sure she flashed the shock jolt boosters up at him. Then, swinging her pack over one shoulder, she trudged up to him, putting a finger to his face.

"I'm warning you, Kawaichi Chosen, if you try any funny stuff, you'll find that I don't care who or what you are when I kill you."  
He laughed, and she almost found herself smiling, but kept her stern face. So it was contagiously cute. Ha Ha. She could do it too.

"Oh," he said, "you'll find that I won't be the one doing all the 'funny stuff.'"  
she humphed. He wasn't going to scare her, not one bit.

He brandished his sword-spear again, but this time he just stuck it in the ground and dusted off the square. It turned into a penknife again, and he pocketed it, smirking. She flushed. The nerve of that show-off.

Within a second, he cleared away some ivy with his hands, revealing a tall gate that lead to a clearing that was visible in between the worn, old wood that it consisted of. Knocking impatiently, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, then began whistling. She fumed. He was intending to just stand there, as though nothing had happened, after dragging her all the way over to his tribal village for whatever dumb reason…

He stopped whistling, looking down at her.

"Kimihiro."  
She blushed lightly. He remembered her name, at least.

"Sorry about the little thing that happened back there. I think Koji's rubbing off on me."  
She stared at him, puzzled. "Who's Ko—"

Kimihiro froze as the gate opened and a boy slightly older than Kai stood behind it.

"Chitsuko," she said under her breath, "All the boys over here are beautiful, aren't they? And I thought I'd seen it all when I first saw him…"  
She smiled weakly, receiving a mischievous one back from him, a manic glint in his deep green eyes. Green again. Hmph—it confused her, why so many green eyed boys in Japan? Of course, his dark hair hung over his eyes, shading them slightly, so that was probably why they seemed darker… but still.

"Brother," Kai murmured. "Didn't expect you to be the one to open the door."  
He smiled sheepishly. "You know I couldn't resist, Kai! Seeing you get high off of apple juice is enough to make a dog laugh."  
A deep red came to her cheeks as she realized what he meant. "You!" She screamed, clenching her fists, "Chitsuko omeda! You evil little twit! You put that stuff in his drink, didn't you? Oh… I oughta…! He touched my _cushions_, for crying out loud!"  
'Koji' broke out into a deep laugh. Apparently this was very funny to him, but the grim looks on both Kai and Kimihiro's faces said that he was going to die- sooner than he might've liked to. Right when Kimihiro had her hand on top of the smooth, ebony dial of her Contour to shoot him, he stopped, and took her hands in his.

"Oh, so sorry. How could I be so rude! I didn't greet the lady, did I? Koji, and you?"  
"Kimihiro Hinoshiba."  
His grin grew as he heard her last name. "Ah, you are a Hinoshiba, then? All right. In that case, may ask a favor of you?"  
"What?"  
"Would you do me the honors of bearing my ch—"

Kai stopped him, his fists clenching. "She's with me. I'm going to take her around a bit."  
But Kimihiro had already figured it out. Blushing even more, she turned to him, her hand balled into a fist. _Oh, I promise… if we weren't in the tribal villages right now I'd massacre him… _But instead…

"All of you are womanizer-wannabes, aren't you?"

He smiled, running his hand through his bangs as though he wanted to look at her clearly.

"Excuse me, but I am not a wannabe. I am one. But he isn't it," pointing at Kai, of course, "Doesn't even flirt. I have to push him into situations like that, and then _make _the girl take control. Seriously, bro, how do intend to get a woman to like you enough in two years to make 'em wed you if you can't even manage a 'hey'?"  
He blushed, punching him on the shoulder. "I am not intending to do anything. I'll woo some chic, the one who seems right. And if I'm eighteen and I still haven't made up my mind, I'll leave, and then they can't make me marry anyone."  
She blushed at this 'marriage' conversation. _Gosh, can't they see I'm here? Just go on and on about hooking up with girls when there's one right in front of you…_

Marriage? What the heck? Yea, I know, I have some freaky ideas, but you'll understand it later. I've already get this entire plot set up, I've even drawn pics for it all, it's all just bliss… There won't be much lemon, only one chappie, and there is hardly any language (for crying out loud, my 5 year old sis would freak if there was, that part is for her sake), so you might be wondering why it's rated M. You will see why around chapter 15, though… cough cough


	4. Note for the Seriously Confuzzled

Hello! This is Tetsuna! W/ a couple quick words. I will be updating soon, but I need to clarify a couple things.  
First of all, Kai is a Kawaichi Chosen. (obviously.) So he can do get fire and earth to do his bidding when he gets matured enough. He will soon, but for now, he can't do squat. And I intentionally made him hot. His older bro (Koji) is kind of jealous, you know, but in a fun way, and is constantly playing pranks on him. Kai usually beats him up later for them, but doesn't for the drugged-up apple juice incident, because of reasons you will have to faithfully read and review to obtain.

Next, Kimihiro comes from Sango's aunt's side, and that's where the blood feud is strongest. They don't know much about their history, but each child has to participate in some sort of physical activity that improves flexibility and agility. Kimihiro takes dance. The dream of all of them is to take Kanna's descendants' head, though most don't go out on that journey. Kimihiro just got upset because her mother had wanted a boy in the house so badly and couldn't have one, so she thought she'd do it herself… But she later learned how you could really take out the curse…

Serafin is like a family pet. She doesn't seem like it, but Kirara's spirit does reside in her, giving her a few of those powers. I was thinking of making a humanoid Serafin, but she's pretty enough as she is, so I might just leave her alone for now. You probably already could tell that she's pretty arrogant and hard-headed, and treats everyone like they're below her. And she still calls Kimihiro and Kai, 'children' even though they're like sixteen and eighteen.

Finally, the Contour explanation… this is for you Demon Exterminator Barbie (are you a Sango fan? I am too, she's so cool!) It looks like a small yellow disc with straps so she can slide it on her arm, and it has like a flat black button on the top, with like ten multi-colored buttons on the side. She presses the black button to charge it, and the smaller ones help her decide what she wants to do. She hardly uses the smaller ones, since what the Contour mainly does is release slight jolts of electricity of different power levels at whoever she aims it at. It won't kill anything, so she has a dagger in her backpack just in case, but it will stun something for quite a while. She uses it constantly, always in self-defense, because she hardly ever actually fights. Like, she zap something, then, maybe kill it if it's threatening her life, but like, if she's just in an argument, she might threaten you with it, but she'd never shoot it at you.

Okay. Thanx for your time. Hope I cleared a couple things up. If I didn't, just tell me. And remember, REVIEW! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! If you don't review, I'm not updating. Not because I'm abandoning my idea, or anything, but because my internet's slow and it's labor enough just to update, so it's not worth the time to update.

Please read and review my story, The Fight for the Heart, too. Thank you. Buh-bye. Sayonara, minna-chan!


	5. The Incident with 'Okaansan'

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it?  
Kenshin: Yes.

Tetsuna: Really?  
Kenshin: Tetsuna, say it already, we're on air, that we are!  
Tetsuna: But that's like telling you to stop talking funny! It's impossible! And if it stops, then it won't be cute anymore.

Kenshin: I know my voice is cute, that I do… (flattered) but that is hardly the matter! Say the dmn disclaimer!

Tetsuna: I own you, Kenshin.  
Kenshin: That's it. (Pulls out sword.)  
Tetsuna: Okay, okay! Sorry. I don't own Inuyasha! There. I said it. But you said nothing about me not owning you! So now I steal you from Kaoru! Muhahaha!  
Kenshin: What kind of crap did I get myself into, going for this job!

On wit da fic!

Kai pouted now, grabbing her arm.  
"Hey! What are ya—" He glared at her, whispering a quick, "Damare" under his breath to get her quiet. She looked back at his brother, her eyes pleading for an explanation, or help. Apparently he understood, because he punched Kai right in the stomach.

Kai's breathing stopped temporarily as Koji's knuckles came in contact with his gut, and he dropped her arm, making her fall to the ground. Finally breathing in, he felt the heat come up to his face as he turned and saw Koji helping her up, that big mischievous grin on his face.

"Chitsuko," he said, softly, coming to his feet himself. "get your hands off of her, hentai!"

Kimihiro glared in his direction, confused. Who was he calling a hentai, that stupid little self-obsessed perve? His brother had not done a thing that even got near the level of his nerve, just flirted a bit, but the only place he had touched was her hand.

Or was it? A second later, Koji found his face in the dirt. She hadn't even bothered to use the Contour, there was no time for that. She didn't think it was possible, but he had placed his hand in a place worse than her derriere, but on her breast.

"You stupid lechers!" she screamed out, kicking his limp body, ignoring his loud "ouch," and stomping off into the distance.

After her anger had faded away, she continued walking, now taking in her surroundings, for once, instead of ignoring them. It was a rather wooded enviroment, of course—the Kawaichi were known for only taking the space they needed, but every now and then, she'd spot a small, cozy looking home, with ivy crawling up the sides, usually brick. The only strange thing about them was that the rain gutter's were metallic- some silver, some gold.

She sighed as she walked past each, letting her pack slump down on her shoulder. Boredom… it kills. Kimihiro could not remember the last time she'd been alone, with no one to talk to…

BAM!  
A little girl with dark brown hair in two braids rammed right into her, her summery skirt flying as she skidded to a stop. Apparently she was not much older than five, but she held herself straight and looked Kimihiro right in the eye before saying, "Gomen, onna-san."

She smiled. The girl seemed so brave, yet she didn't smile back. She kept a firm and taught expression, then turned around and skipped off towards the woods.  
A minute later, a high pitched scream met her ears. She looked up, heart wrenching inside of her chest. The little girl?  
She automatically tapped the top of the Contour, charging it quickly before running in the direction she had gone in.

Meanwhile, Kai fumed as he stomped through the villages. _That stupid baka, _he thought, _running off like that… If I don't find her, I'm going to kill Koji…_

Then he heard a scream. A feminine one. His heart stopped in mid-beat.

"Kimihiro…"

Rushing full speed ahead into the wooded area, she looked around for any sign of danger, before seeing the girl.

She was in horrible shape, her hair had come loose and her clothes were muddy. But those were not seen by Kimihiro, who shouted out to her, "Stay still!"

Something was holding her by one leg, upside-down. It seemed to be either invisible or very nicely camouflaged, and more than ever, Kimihiro wanted Serafin there. Aiming her weapon away from the girl, she let a small blast be released. There was a quick flash, then the girl thudded to the ground.  
The culprit fell with her, staring at her with furious, almond, yellow eyes, but still, that was all she could see.

"You have taken away my dinner, you stupid wench! You will die! You will!"  
"Stuff it, fugly."  
Taking out her weapon again, she brought it to full power, blasting the 'thing' to the point where it disenigrated.

The girl stared up at her now, with large, scared brown eyes.

"Thank you. Okaan-san."  
It was in two separate sentences, very short ones, at that, but she froze. Mother? _Mother? _The little girl wrapped her arms around Kimihiro's waist (As far up as she can reach).

"How cute," Kimihiro couldn't help but say, but then she glared down at her. "But now you have to go to your real mom, 'kay?"  
The girl frowned, staring up at her as though she were confused. Then she clung to her pants leg.

"Whaddaya mean, okaan-san? You are my real mama!"  
Now, she was getting annoyed. "Listen kid…" But she found that the girl was no longer listening to her.

"Otou-san! Kai-sama! Aiiee!"  
She squealed as she ran over to Kai, who mussed her hair, then looked down at her.

"You're a mess!"  
"I got attacked, otou-san! Isn't that cool! But then okaan-san came and saved me, and she had this thinga-ma-bobber, and she want like – BAM—die fiend! And she came up to me and saved me!" The girl spoke fast, even adding her own little special effects, moving her hands around to show what happened.  
Kimihiro shook her head, stifling a laugh. "I did not use a battle cry, kid."  
The girl shrugged.

"So, otou-san, did ya bring me ice cream?"  
He shook his head, "Gomen. I had to make a deal with a Seraphim's Pet. You're okay with that, right, Midori?"  
Kimihiro turned red as an idea sprung into her head.

Midori. He had mentioned her, hadn't he?  
And she called him otou-san…

And he seemed to care a lot about her…

"Hiya! You're her father! Oh, kami…"  
He looked at her as though she were crazy.

"Did you get a little tipsy today?"

She blushed, ashamed at herself for making such an outburst. The little girl called her mother, even though this was their first time meeting. How cute.

He stared at her flushed face, feeling the red creep up to his own. Finding his eyes on her, she turned away slightly, peering at him still from the corner of her eye.

'_Sango, don't be ashamed. Don't turn your head from me. That pink tinge in your face—it just brings out your beauty more… don't hide it from me… please…'_

'_Miroku, you flatter me.'_

'_Ah… you're red now… I guess I could torture you a little more… perhaps you would explode…'_

_Their lips met._

Kimihiro closed her eyes as the most amazing feeling came over her. She felt warm, she felt protected… but otherwise, she felt no other feeling… she attempted to open her eyes again, but they would not, no matter how hard she tried, her body would not obey her anymore…

"_Stop worrying. I was only greeting him for a minute. There's nothing wrong with kissing your husband, is there?"  
_Kissing? Husband? Who? Where? What was that voice in her head.

She thought she would get dizzy from all the questions.

Finally, she used the last of her will power and her eyes flew open, meeting his immediately. Of course they would. They were nose to nose. And Midori was squealing now.

"Oooo… Kai-sama… you never told me you had a _lover…_"  
They separated immediately, Kimihiro felt that warm feeling disappear altogether.

"Lover? No! What do you mean?"

"Why else would ya kiss her, then?"

Sorry for the short chappie. I'm trying to update often and I think I'm doing well, but I think the plans for each chapter too slowly, and I'm bored with the beginning… it's going to get pretty good near the end (which, by the way, I already have typed up. )

Thank you if you are reading this. Review, please! I wanna get at least ten people, you know, so I can have ten different reviews.

Demon Exterminator Barbie, I think you're gonna make me cry! Your so awesome, reviewing me twice… I'm really happy… you made my day!

Lol, this is fun!

Thanx,

Tetsuna

A.K.A. Chicago Girl-who-somehow-got-stuck-up-in-Arkansas.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello reviewers! This is Tetsuna with bad news. I have been dum-dum-dum GROUNDED, there for I won't be able to update often. Sorry. Feel my pain and mourn for me. I may be able to update at my friend's house, but until then I shall leave you hanging. Muahahahaha cough Special thanx to Demon Exterminator Barbie, one new reviewer, Velgma (correct spelling unknown), and my friend who typed this while I am GROUNDED. I love you guys tear tear O.K. now I've gotten over it.

Bye,

Tetsuna


	7. The Walk

Disclaimer: I actually don't feel like playing around today. I don't own Inu, okay?

Chapter 6

"It's shameful to lie, Midori. I would've known if I had—and I didn't, anyway--…"  
He was hesitating, the pink of his cheeks illuminating his face.

Midori pouted, putting her hands on her hips, her dark brown braids swishing over her back. "Don't tell me not to lie, liar. You should know better than to lie in front of me like that! That's just stupid! I'd think you'd be smarter than that, Kai-sama!"  
Kimihiro sighed, closing her eyes physically and shutting her ears mentally, putting a hand out behind her to find a boulder to sit on.

'_7 hours… If what Midori says is true…'_

The words echoed in her head.

'That pink tinge in your face—it just brings out your beauty more… don't hide it from me… please…'

'He thinks I'm beautiful…' 

Her hair blew in front of her face, dancing over her eyes. Her body was trying to imitate the warmth that she had received from him, unsuccessfully. Half of her wanted to punch him in the face, the other half wanted to run into his arms and beg to be kissed again…

She stood up and opened her eyes and ears.

"Ommph!"

Looking down, she saw Midori at her waist level, squeezing against her stomach in a hug.

"Bye bye, okaan-san! The elder says I have to meet them! And it takes a while to get there."  
Before Kimihiro could ask a word, the little girl sprinted away, her braids flying out.

The silence fell immediately, as though on cue. The blush increased in Kai's face, and he turned around, avoiding Kimihiro's eyes.

"We probably have to get going too. C'mon." He began walking.  
She stretched out, following him, but keeping her distance. He'd probably say something, she knew, to introduce the topic. Boys are like that. Intensely stupid. Without the idea of what to say and when to say it.

He stopped at a dead end, where the forest started. Opening her mouth to protest, she watched as he drew the sword-spear again, slashing down a small shrub. Finally, he faced her, his green eyes penetrating through her own. He held his hand out to her.  
She froze, blinking. What was going on? Did he want her to--?  
She grabbed his hand, and he pulled her through the bushes, slashing down more bushes as he ran. She felt herself stuggling to keep up, her hands sweating.

'_Chisuko. How the heck did he learn to run so frickin' fast?'_

Finally, she tripped.  
The ground scraped against her knee, the dust flying into her eyes. How embarrassing.

But he had skidded to a stop, his face pretty much expressionless, and he quickly pulled her to her feet. But his next move surprised her beyond belief.

He pulled her to his waist, careful straddling her to one side as he started to run again, then gradually pulling her to his back.

"K-Kai…"  
He grunted in reply, slashing down a final bush, and letting her down gently.

"I suggest you brace yourself. This is going to be a long walk."  
She ran towards a small stream, and splashed a bit of water on her stinging wound. Wincing, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a band-aid.

"Great. My first laceration of the trip is from tripping."

Kai made a sound somewhere between a snicker and a grunt, splashing water into his face to loosen the sweat. The uncomfortable silence greeted them again. Then a thought came to her head.

"Kai-kun, do you know anything about anyone by the name of Curacova."  
He looked up, a serious, almost deadly glare on his face. The water dripped slowly from his skin as he got to his feet.

"As a matter of fact, I do. She killed my parents. And hundreds of others."  
She gasped. "I'm sorry…"  
His expression loosened into a smile. "No need for you to be. It wasn't your fault. Curacova has been torturing people since before you were born. She has never been seen. Her minions do her dirty work." He paused, walking closer and closer to her. "Since she is thought to be a descendant of Naraku, it is thought that the minions are actually detachments, but it has never been proved."  
Her eyes were stinging with tears.

"Did you know them really well? I mean, you were young when they—passed away, weren't you?"  
"I was twelve."  
So it was a pretty new wound. Kimihiro felt a lump come up in her throat.

"I-I'm sorry…" she repeated.

"I told you already, you shouldn't be. We have to get going."  
A rustle came up in the trees. Stiffening up, she drew out the Contour.   
"Shh…" she whispered…

He wheeled around, tackling her to the ground.

"What the-"  
She turned around, staring in awe at the form of a woman. But a very strange one. There was something missing. Other than the fact that her eyes were red and her hair snowy white, she seemed normal.

But then, as the dust cleared, she noticed. The woman had no legs, but a tail. Like a snake. And now her face was distorting, revealing enormous fangs, and lunged out, like a cobra at the spot where the two were lying. In one quick movement, Kai rolled her over a side, dodging the attack.

The heat came up to her face. He was directly over her, their noses almost touching…

NO. This was no time for lovey-dovey thoughts. She tossed him off of her, carefully aiming the Contour right as the snake-woman prepared to attack again. It blasted into it's mouth… Kimihiro grinned triumphantly. But then she felt a pain in her leg, like a sting, a pinch, a pain that was so indescribable… she felt her surroundings go cloudy, and she slumped to the floor.

Kai caught her easily, laying her on the floor and pulling the snake's tail out of her leg. Grabbing the sword-spear, he slashed the creature across the chest, watching it fall. But then it's tail lashed out again, towards Kimihiro's limp body.

Catching it, he tried to cut off the snake head that was hissing at the tail, but suddenly choked. The thing was wrapping itself around his neck. Gagging, he gripped the scales, attempting to loosen it, but it was no use.

His fingers were starting to burn from the skin.

He gasped, it let go, then finally went after Kimihiro a third time.

Tripping over his own feet, he hit the floor just as the snake approached her.

"Kimi-hiro…"  
He saw a boulder, the one she was sitting on before…

It went black.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Kai. Kai! Wake up!"  
He stirred, the darkness opening up to reveal crystal blue eyes. He jolted up, a wet towel came down to his lap.

"What happened?"  
"You fainted."  
His eyes darted to her bleeding leg, two distinct holes in it. The pale blue glint of Serafin's skin shone behind her.

"You are all right, are you not?"  
She nodded. Serafin slid between them, glaring up at Kai.

"You saved her, didn't you, Serafin?"  
The Beast shook its head.

"You did, dipstick. You're a dirty little liar, you stupid, lousy…"  
"shut up, Serafin," Kimihiro hissed.

Serafin hissed back.

"A liar? What'd I do?"

"Yeah right, you can't use your powers… so tell me, Mr., how'd you suppose that rock got on that snake in the first place."  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. You see, I'm sneaking to do even this, so please bear with me. I've written the whole story on paper, I just need to transfer to typing.

Oh, anyway, my birthday was on July 23rd. Let's see if you can guess my age. (I have an idea you'll be WAAAAYYY off.)


	8. Feelings Explained

Chapter 7

Okay, I'll tell you my answers in a minute. I'll tell you this much though, one of you got it right (I'm glad I seem older, hee hee)  
Disclaimer: You know it, do I have to go through all this crud again? You already know who I own, Kimihiro and Kai and Serafin and most of the fanged creatures… so please leave me alone with everything else. grins evilly

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

He jolted up at the Beast's words, his heart racing almost literally out of his chest. Finding himself with such a stupidly eager expression, Kai pulled his bangs back, carefully eyeing Serafin in case she let out any sign of infidelity (unfaithfulness, I know it's usually used for couples, but he's seeing whether she's screwing with him.) The Beast glared him fully in the eye, before rising on her hind legs.

"Why, you think I lie?"  
"You're a Seraphim's Pet, not a Seraphim itself, nothing drastic will happen to you if you do. And I have a feeling you're just toying with me. Really, Serafin, I am used to that, and I hate it when people… or in your case…things, try to mess with me about it.

"Listen, Seraphim. I am ashamed! When people expect so much of you and you satisfy them, it's like trying to give water to a thousand people when all you have is half a flask! If you give them a little, they just want more… and more… and more…! Some people tell me that I'm just a late bloomer. Some say I'm a disappointment. Some say all I need is an inspiration—"  
Kimihiro grabbed hold of his jacket as the ground began to quake violently. Serafin took a leap to avoid the sudden Earth movement, then landed softly, her legs suddenly extending into slender, pale, human ones, her paws turning into hands, her dog-like face melting into a humanoid face. The clothing that covered her was limited and ragged, and her pale brown her was messily clipped up, enormous fangs stuck from her lips, apparently her teeth had undergone no transformation. Six long, streamlined wings extended from her back.

The Earth gave a final rumble as Kai stared at this new creation, in awe.

"S-Serafin?"  
The Angel tossed her head to the side, not wanting to speak to him.

"I'm getting sick and tired of being called a 'pet!' Seraphim 'Pets' run around their masters and mistresses like the bunch of skanks they are, always begging to be ridden, if you know what I mean. And it's not as though they look like little, cute, dogs. They look normal. This is what I look like, okay! You think that not being able to use your stupid powers is bad! What if your entire race were a bunch of bloody sluts and didn't know right from wrong! What if you were looked upon as a low, skanky, sleaze just because of how all your comrades acted? You say that you are ashamed. Yet, not so to the point where you'd leave the place where the restless rest and food is a want, not a necessity. So shut up now that you're satisfied!"  
The seemingly stable angel fell to her knees and punched the ground with such force that she bore a hole into the ground.

"Serafin…" Kimihiro walked slowly towards her. "Why didn't you ever tell me earlier?"  
"It was unnecessary to do so. This boy needs to stop feeling sorry for his pampered butt and get to the point. Besides, it was like just starting puberty. He needed to have 'the talk.'"  
In a flash, she was her dog-like form again, pale blue tail lashing out.   
"Hop on, we don't want you to be late."  
Swinging her injured leg over Seraphim, she carefully examined the two lacerations. Kai carefully climbed on as well, eyeing her wound carefully. Without hesitation, he reached out to touch it. Groaning, she gently caught his hand.

"Are you all right?"  
"Yes."  
"Does it hurt?"  
"No."  
"Are you lying to me?"  
Kimihiro smiled, bringing her eyes to meet his concerned ones.

"Yea. I guess."  
He brought his hand down again on her thigh, earning him a couple inquisitive looks from her. Opening her backpack for her, her pulled out a few alcohol swabs, and, grabbing her hand for comfort, ran them softly down the wound. She groaned again, resting her head on his shoulder to support herself.

"Gomen."  
"It's fine."  
He ran the alcohol swabs down it again, and she bit her lip. Again. Her teeth sunk into her lips, and a few drops of blood rested on them, daring the others to race down to her chins.  
"Ah," Kai said, as he noticed them. "You shouldn't do that, I don't think it'd be a good idea to ruin such perfect lips as yours."  
She licked the blood softly.

"Shut up."  
Stuffing the medical waste into his pocket, he gently pulled out some gauze, wrapping it securely around her leg, then lifted his head.

"Do you want a bandage instead of this crap?"  
She nodded. "I have a few bigger sizes in there."  
He needn't be told that, he slowly unwrapped her leg and placed the plastic firmly on the affected area.

"That should do."

"Yea. Thanks."  
He grinned, slowly helping her put her backpack on as Serafin gained speed, jetting into the sky.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Serafin landed with a bump, unloading her passengers without hesitation. The area before them was barren, but they could see, right in the center of the land, a vast area filled with people, shaped in the shape of a circle, with an empty space in the middle.

"This is the meeting place. Kimihiro, can you walk?"  
With a humph, she nodded, taking a careful step onto the land, before groaning and reaching for her leg. Smiling, he turned around.

"I'll carry you."  
She couldn't disagree, for once, she was curious to see about this 'meeting.' Without hesitation, she boosted herself up with her good leg, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck to keep from falling. With a grin, they began walking down.

(MirSan Flashback)

"_Houshi-sama. Kirara is tired."_

_She slipped from the beast's back, who gave a small sound of approval, and immediately turned back into a kitten. Landing hard on her rear, she rubbed it softly.  
"Hm.But your wounds are not fully healed, am I right? Especially the one just inflicted on your rump."_

_The only cover-up for her obvious blush was the furious expression she placed on her face like a mask._

"_No, my wounds are not fully healed. But I should be able to walk still."  
"Ah. No need. Climb on my back."  
"But houshi-sama…"  
The monk smiled, putting a hand up to tell her that he wished to speak._

"_My dear Sango, it pains me to hear you address me as Houshi-sama and not Miroku. I wish to have the satisfaction of the fact that we are close."  
The tajiya smiled, then started again._

"_Miroku…"  
"That's better."  
"Miroku, what if… what if Kagome or Shippou or Inu see us? What will they say?"  
He smiled, boosting her carefully onto his back._

"_Shippou can say what he likes. It doesn't concern me, nor should it you. Kagome can say nothing. She rides on Inu constantly, that is her means of transportation. And for today, I am yours."_

_She smiled, wrapping her arms his neck, nuzzling into the soft black hair that coated his head, her eyes jetting to the glint of his earring, then that of the staff…_

'_I like this…' the thought seemed dirty in her mind. 'This is… home.'_

0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o-

It was quite a sight, those thousands of sand-colored kimono-clad people, all looking at the center toward this old, mustached man.

"He looks like a walrus."  
Indeed he did, with his long white mustache acting as tusks, and his large body as blobby as a walrus would be. But she earned herself a glare from Kai instead of the expected laugh.

"Don't insult the elder. You could easily be killed for that. Hear?"  
Kimihiro nodded, stung by the sudden serious loyalty in his voice. Resting her head on the small of his back, she sighed. His seriousness at times could be so annoying…

She felt his muscles loosen up a bit, and he laughed softly.

"I suppose you have a point," he said, the tone of his voice suggesting that he had either been reminiscing or just daydreaming. "His got those long white whiskers. When I was younger, they were black, and really slick. I liked to play with them. You know, pull on them and stuff."  
She smiled, instantly imagining a baby Kai-sama giggling and gurgling foolishly while yanking on the poor old man's facial hair.

"You're warm."  
The words were definitely unexpected, and she jolted, almost falling off of his back. Propping herself up, she peered down at him, expecting him to have a wide, perverted smirk on his face, but instead, she found a face of one in another world, in a distant dream. His eyes seemed almost clouded, but that may have just been because of the way the sun was hitting them indirectly. His smile was slight, and, noticing her silence, he let out a soft sound, close to a laugh.

"You smell like… my mother."  
She noticed how his grip on her legs was increasing in strength, how he was starting to boost her up often.

He opened his mouth to speak, and she readied herself for another unexpected 'compliment.'

"We're here." The smile on his face widened slightly, and she looked up.

The crowd was enormous, almost like a sea, from every direction there were nothing but people, people shouting, talking, crying, laughing, little kids running around and older boys flirting with the older girls.

"You can let me down now," she said, suddenly realizing that a few people were turning to look at them.

"Can you walk?"  
"Maybe."  
"The answer has to be 'yes' before I let you down."  
"All right, yes."  
"That wasn't your first answer, hime."  
She frowned at his newest nickname for her, sticking her tongue out to show that she found it amusing.

"Princess? Me? You must be joking."  
He advanced towards the crowd, when two men with rifles stopped them.

"Kai-sama, sir," the first, one dark blue hair and spectacles said, "I am sorry, we can't allow your little friend in. She has to be from the village, no outsiders, for the elder's sake."  
He gave the man a glare that had 'death' written all over it, then said with an almost royal air,

"Sorry, Fuyu, we have to pass. This girl will do the Elder no harm."  
The other man, obviously not as calm as the first, huffed, "Let me get this through your thick skull! I don't care who or what you are, so even if you did have as much power and wisdom as the elder, I wouldn't give a care what you say! Now let the girl down and leave her with us!"  
Kai's body was tensing up again, she could feel the ripples of his back muscles now.

"No."

Trying to force his way through, he met Fuyu's arm.

"Gomen, Kai-sama, but we cannot let you through!"

"Sorry isn't enough! Let me go!"  
Kimihiro wrapped her legs tighter around his torso, watching with fright as the man by the name of 'Winter' (that's what fuyu means) continued to argue with Kai. Speechlessness overcame her for once in her life.

She shrieked. The other man was tugging on her injured leg, putting pressure on the wound almost deliberately. By instinct, she pulled up the Contour and blasted him in the chest.

The man fell back, and she fell down, her leg stinging and smarting and who knows what else.

Kai pushed against the man's arm again.

"I swear if you don't let us through I'll cut your arm off!"  
He pulled out the sword-spear to prove it.  
"Us? You speak of her as though you are close. I hope Yoma knows nothing of this."  
(By the way, Yoma means monster, if you didn't already know.)  
He turned around, seeing Kimihiro on the ground, and helped her to her feet.

"I don't care if that witch knows. I don't care."  
The earth itself was trembling slightly, but she seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"I am sure she would though. I suggest you do not appear anywhere near her with this girl in sight. She just might decide to put an end to your newest hoe over there."  
Fuyu began to smirk slightly, his piercing brown eyes gazing down at them through the glasses.  
The ground went into a full-blast tremor. Kimihiro shrieked and looked up.

"Kai!"  
He had Fuyu by the neck, glaring at him almost maniacally.

"You speak of Kimihiro like that again, and I will put an end to _you_."  
She watched as he let him go gently, dropping him to the floor. All eyes were on them.

"Get on my back, Kimihiro."  
She stared down at the men, one who looked like he was having a pleasant dream, the other as though he'd seen a ghost, then up at him.

But she obeyed, and he walked through. The heads turned as they passed, a thousand, maybe more, two, eyes locked on them. He stopped when her reached the inner circle, gently helped Kimihiro to a sitting position on the ground, then bowed before the walrus-man.

"Okaan-san!"  
Kimihiro lifted her eyes to see Midori, who immediately jumped up and ran into her arms, careful not to touch her legs.

"Midori. What're you doing here?"  
The little girl grinned wolfishly, her dark hair somehow brighter in the sun.

"They wanna see if I'm a kitsune, Kimihiro! They said I got fang-things and now my feet are getting too small for my shoes! I wanna be a kitsune! They're cool! And elder says that there was this one that went around with Miroku-sama hundreds of years ago and he was super duper cute!"  
"Was he?"  
"Yea! Just like me, huh? Don't you think so, mommy?"  
Putting a hand to her head and laughing softly, she received a glare from the walrus-man.

Gently releasing Midori, she beckoned for her to leave, then attempted to stand. Mission unsuccessful. She fell to her knees, the wound on her leg squashing against the rocky ground.

"Aita! Ow! Geesh!" she brought her leg from underneath her, finally sitting up.

"Kimihiro Hinoshiba. I am sincerely sorry for the trouble I caused back there, wal—I mean, sir… I'll leave the village if I must…"  
Kai gave her a look that said, 'Oh no you won't' all over it.

The walrus man smiled, revealing strong white teeth as opposed to the few, decaying ones she was expecting.

"But you musn't dear, oh no, you are Kai-sama's guest, and you are injured, therefore, you will stay until you are well, eh?"  
She bowed her head, and nodded. "You are too kind, sir." A thought erupted in the back of her head though. 'Sama? Why is this man, who is of such high importance, calling Kai master? Is the Kaiwaichi Chosen that powerful?'

A scream erupted in the crowd.

"KAIKO! There you are!" (By the way, I know you're tired of the notes, but adding 'ko' to a name is like a romantically friendly way to address a person. What you would call your boo.)

The smile on Kai's face dissolved as he turned to see who had yelled out.

Of course, it was a female who had yelled out. And she was working her way through the crowd, her dark, long hair swimming about her, her jacket and an especially large T-shirt the only thing she was wearing. Her dark-brown eyes flashed to Kimihiro, and a look she could not imagine on that innocent figure on her face. It was of pure hatred, her lips virtually spelling the words, '_stay away, you sleaze,'_ and her eyes narrowing. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, then walked up to Kai, latching her arms around his. He tugged on it, trying to pull away, but she was grabbing on like a vice.

"Oh, Kaiko, I was wondering where you were… I've been missing you, didn't Renai tell you you had to visit me every Friday? I waited for you for ages, I even got dressed specially for you…"

Both Kai and Kimihiro felt their faces wrench in disgust.

"You got dressed especially for him? In that T-shirt? You skank!" The words erupted from her lips without warning, and she brought her hands to her mouth, flushing red as all eyes fastened upon her. The girl gave her a glare that would have killed a werewolf. Slowly releasing Kai, she walked towards Kimihiro, flipping her hair once more.

"Excuse me," she said, looking Kimihiro up and down with this preppy look on her face, her lips forming a sneer, "But nobody asked you about what _you _thought about it. You needn't consider me your equal."  
The words stung her. Her clothes were relatively decent, her shorts were even covered up by a long tie-up (or buckle-up) skirt, and her shirt was not baggy, but it had sleeves, therefore covering her up nicely.

"Your equal? I am most definitely not your equal! In fact, I'm higher than you could ever imagine!"  
"Educate me, kohai."  
(Means teacher, but as though the teacher is of less class than you)

Growling, she attempted to get to her feet, but found that impossible, her leg slipping from under her. She didn't care anymore, she didn't care that everyone was watching, she didn't even care that she was creating a horrible first expression to the Elder.

"Ha! Can't even stand, you cripple!"  
Kai moved forward, clutching his fists.

The Elder lifted his arm to stop him.

"Leave the women to bicker over you. If you come between and stand by one of them, the other will prove to be more trouble than you could ever imagine. You know Yoma."  
Launching a foot towards her, Yoma kicked Kimihiro hard, in the stomach, and she doubled over, spitting up a small amount of blood. The ground was trembling gently.

"All right, then," Kimihiro said, heaving, panting, "I didn't want to resort to desperate measures, but…"

Pulling out the Contour, she lashed it out and blasted the girl with it. She fell backwards, exposing to the village her lacy undergarments.

Panting and falling over, Kimihiro wiped her lips, shrugging off the red that came with it, ignoring the pain in her stomach.

"Kimihiro… you all right?" Kai asked, peering over her, slowly picking her up, bridal style this time.

"Do I look it?" those were her last words for the time being, the pain in her leg and her gut combining and destroying her conciousness.

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"Kimihiro? Kimihiro-chan? Are you awake?" She opened her eyes to meet Midori's happy-go-lucky ones.

She sat up, hand on her head, almost ramming into Midori's.

"The meeting? What happened?"  
Midori smiled sadly, carefully looking down at her bare feet, with the little toes and the long toenails wiggling.

"It was canceled. Yesterday. And you blacked out. Yesterday. Kai-sama ordered it. I've never seen him so angry. He tore a hole in the ground, but everyone's partying now, basically because he's got his powers now."

Kimihiro sighed. "But that means you don't get to find out if you're a kitsune!"  
Midori nodded sadly.

"There's always next year. Don't be sad for me, okaan-san. Worry about yourself. Like I said. You blacked out. Yesterday."  
The smile that was threatening to reveal itself exploded across her face. She could care less how long she'd blacked out for, she could only remember that Midori had missed a once a year opportunity to find out what… who… she truly was. Midori was so… cute. So innocently adorable. It made her smile every time she mentioned the words 'okaan-san.'

"Oh… Midori…"  
She gave her a huge hug, then reached down to check on her leg. The bandage was still there, but she felt no pain, from neither the limb nor her stomach. Carefully lowering herself, she let her feet touch the floor, waiting for the pain to return.

But it didn't. Happily, she danced from foot to foot, and looked around the room. Grabbing her backpack, and carefully strapping the Contour to her arm, she winked at the want-to-be-fox, then headed for the door.

As soon as she opened it, her ears were greeted with music, her eyes with people dancing and eating and drinking and conking out. It was like a rebellious teenager's party, with make-out sessions here and there, a couple men having contests to see how long they could hold their liquor, and such.

It was funny to watch them fall over, flat on their faces, laughing their heads off as though they'd never seen a girl before as she passed by, her eyes searching around the room for Kai.

"Oi! Kimihiro! Over here!"  
Koji split the crowd slightly as he moved swiftly through, bumping into a few people.

She grinned grimly, he was not the person she wanted to see at the time.

"So… are you better?"

The question was unexpected from someone of his nature, she was expecting a, 'hey babe,' or 'wanna drink?' from him.

"Y-yeah, I guess."

He smiled. "Little brother is really worried about you, you know."  
At the mention of Kai, her body tensed up.

"Who was that girl? Yoma? Yoma! Yes, the monster, and quite the skank too, if you ask me."  
"Ah, yes, you elaborated on her sleaziness yesterday in the inner circle."  
"Who is she to Kai-sama?" Kimihiro surprised herself with her sudden protective tone, her involuntarily clenching and unclenching fists, the redness of her face.

"Oh… his bride-to-be. That is, if he doesn't find someone else by the time he turns eighteen."  
She fumed. "That slut doesn't deserve him."  
Once again, the words found their way to her mouth without passing through her brain.

"Does anyone?" Koji's grin was weak. "He doesn't seem to mind, if you ask me. He gets all the attention he wants, and all the girls he wants. It's tough being…"  
"Second best," she finished for him, sighing. Ah yes, the famous second best speech. She had used it herself a couple times, when she was younger and insecure. Her heart wrenched for him, it seemed that he was right. It must heart to see your sibling, your younger one, at that, worshipped, and then you treated like just another villager. Then with his parents too… it was probably harder on him, seeing that he was two years older than Kai.

"But I'm boring you. He only has one thing that I'm sincerely jealous of."  
She was starting to get comfortable, and leaned against the walls.

"What?"  
He grinned slyly. "You."

"You're kidding. He doesn't _have _me."  
"Prove it."  
"What?"  
"Prove that you didn't go out there and beat Yoma down for his sake."  
She paced, thinking. There was no way she was going to let anyone say that she belonged to anyone, let alone Kai. She was only concerned, not attached, to him. I mean, who would want to spend the rest of their life with a witch like Yoma?  
She turned to look at him, her eyes making contact with Koji's. Placing her arms around his neck, she boosted herself up a couple inches with her toes, and mashed her lips against his.

Koji froze, his eyes wide open as he tried to put two and two together and figure out what was going on.

He closed them, probing her bottom lip with his tongue for entrance. She gave it immediately, one thought going through her head.

'_I'm kissing Kai. Yes. This is Kai I'm kissing. Yes! He's the one rubbing my back right now… he's the one kissing me, holding me…'_

And then she heard his voice, Kai's.

"Kimihiro! You're o—"

There was the sound of a glass shattering onto the floor, followed by a few others. The ground was jerking, violently.

She immediately released Koji, bringing her hands from his hair as she stared up at him, terrified.

"So… I see how it is. Koji, take care of Kimihiro." The tears were stinging his eyes, but the words were constantly repeating themselves in his head, telling him to be a man, telling him not to cry.

But how could he not? The girl he was actually starting to like was not with him, but his brother.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

You were not expecting that, were you? I probably scared the heck out of you… First with Kai and his powers, then Serafin's little fit, then with Koji and Kimi's make-out session. Ha! I bet you thought it was more likely to be Kai and kimi, huh? Hee hee, I'm so evil, but just so you know, Koji doesn't get with Kimi, so don't get scared.

I'm angry with you, mylovemiroku. You guessed right. On your first try. Damn.

I am thirteen (do I really seem older? Thanks!).

Nice try, DEB, but the cookie goes to mlm. I'm so glad you guys think I'm older… I was thinking you'd give me some lousy guesses like eleven, or some far out ones like eighteen…

(yea. I'm tall for my age, so when I went to a Fool the Guesser game at Magic Springs (water/amusement park), she guessed eighteen and I was like heck no! But I won a blow-up Spongebob hammer so I guess it was worth it. )

Thank you, my dear faithful reviewers. I used to think that it was the amount that I got. I don't need a hundred reviews (but I expect that to my 13 and ½ birthday gift, 'kay?) I just need you guys.  
Though I would like more reviewers.

I swear, if you've been just reading through for fun and not reviewing, I'll saw your head off. I worked hard on this chappie.

Thanx,

Tetsuna.

P.S. No, seriously. You'd better review me. I expect at least 12 reviews (total, I won't ask for much more). Cuz if I don't get an ample amount, I might just decide to discontinue the fic and send the rest of the story to my best reviewers (mlm and DEB) if they ask for it. So I'm warning ya, peeps.

P.S.S

My cousin came to visit from Ghana! (yes, I am from Africa, no I do not speak the language, please do not bore me with questions because I sincerely hate it when people go on and on. And no, in Africa we do not dig in trash cans for food, we just go by the nearest Mini-mart, and no, we do not paint ourselves and run around naked. Please, I don't want any questions about my origin, I almost was not going to tell you but, hey! There's something interesting about everyone, huh? I'm asking for no questions because I've been asked them my entire life and it get on my nerves. A LOT! (A LOT A LOT A LOT A LOT! Worse than my little brother when he's having a good day!) I haven't seen her in years, and know she's like, 17, and my brother bugs her cuz she's still way shorter than me. Ha! Fancy that!  
Smell ya later!

Officially!


	9. I Don't Want to Hurt Anymore

Disclaimer: I'm getting sick of these. Iay on'tday ownay Inuay. Appyhay?

Yea, I know I freaked u our last chapter.

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Chapter 9

Kimihiro's head was spinning. His hurt expression was etched permanently into her mind, refusing to erase itself. She wiped her lips, deserting Koji without a second thought, looking through the crowd for any sign of him.

He was outside. She hadn't noticed it, but the rain was falling, pelting into the ground with great force. He didn't have an umbrella, and the water was pelting onto his arms, legs, face…

"Get away from here, Kimihiro," he whispered, detecting her prescence without her making a sound. "I don't need to be comforted."  
She didn't speak, but instead advanced towards him, each step agonizing…

He turned, seeing that she had not left, then went back to staring into the sky.

"Kai… listen to me…"  
He turned to face her.

"I don't need to be explained as to why you were 'making out' with my brother in the back of the room."  
"I was trying to prove to him that I wasn't owned! It was stupid… but I couldn't help it… it was on the spur of the moment, and in my mind I wasn't kissing him…!"

He smirked sarcastically, heaving, "you can kiss with your lips, not with your mind. Who were you kissing in your mind then? Some hunk from the cover of a magazine?"  
"No!" The words were coming freely. "You! I was thinking of you! And what am I supposed to do, try to steal you from Yoma? That monster will force me to kill her, and then what'll be of my reputation? So now, if I can't be with you, since you are already engaged to monster, you don't want me to try my luck with someone else?"  
the words stung him, suddenly making him think in a whole new perspective.

"Kimihiro…"  
He met her and the two stopped walking. Lifting a hand, he wiped the trickling water from her forehead, watching as it mingled with the tears.

she pulled his hand away slowly.

"I don't want you to be unfaithful to your bride to be."

The water was rushing down on them, drenching her.

"Kimihiro… she's not my fiancée, she's just a suitor…"  
"She acts like she's a lot more than that…"

He paused, grinning widely at how quickly they had made up.

"Why can't I stay mad at you?"  
He was coming closer, so that their noses were barely touching, thunder rumbling somewhere in the distance. Kimihiro jolted softly, shivering from the cold and the sudden sound. Wrapping his arms around her, he let his lips brush against hers in something that was barely a kiss; it seemed almost accidental.

"I dunno…"  
He brushed against them again, backing her slowly into the tree behind them. His arms were encircling her, her head was spinning once more as he pulled her wet hair back.

Before she could say another word, she was silenced with his lips, now breaking the chaste act and landing fully on hers, gently massaging the flesh. Everything was going black for her now, his smell and his taste were making her crazy…

And then he stopped. She grunted in disappointment, but too nervous to reach for more. He nudged his nose against hers, capturing her lips again briefly. He too didn't wish to break the moment, but their fairy-tale land could not last forever.

"You know," she whispered, writing random symbols on his chest, "I said I'd stay here for two days, then leave."  
He was nuzzling her face now. "No… stay a little longer…"

She pulled away. "Kai, I don't want you to fall in love with me."  
He stared down at her as though she were out of her mind, then brought her close to him. She gently pulled away.

"What do you mean?"  
She sighed. "I'm leaving and it's final. If you do, and I leave, you won't ever forget me. You won't be able to get on with your personal life easily… and that's important here at the tribe… so love me all you want now, but don't expect anything special later."

She tried to strengthen her expression, but it was hopeless. Her face said she was upset.

"Don't say that…" he said, trying to hold her again. She backed into the tree.

"No!" Then she shrieked, and fell forward into his arms.

It seemed as though she were going through a fit. But then he lifted his hands. Blood. It was soaking her shirt along with the rain.

"Kimihiro! My goodness…"  
Then he looked up.

"Yoma. Please tell me you didn't do this to her…"  
The girl was no longer wearing a T-shirt, but a sphagetti top and shorts. She flipped her hair, walking behind the thin tree and pulling out a bloodied knife, leaving a hole.

"I can't say that, Kai. That would be a lie."  
Kimihiro groaned in anguish before turning to face her.

"you jealous little…"  
she reached for the contour again, but felt her fingers go numb, and for the third time, she lost conciousness.

'Kai' released her as soon as he saw that she was out, then looked up at Yoma, who was smirking.

"It worked. I suppose I underestimated you, mortal… but I'm going to feel filthy for the next couple days, kissing another female…"  
'His' face was now slowly distorting into a woman's, a figure developing. In a moment, 'he' was a 'she.'

Her white hair was short, and her eyes a deep, dark red that could penetrate through a person's skull. Her clothes were limited, an armor like top that covered only her bosom, a tie-up skirt with skulls at the ends for buckles, and a pair of strange looking shoes, where, attached, was a sword on each leg, rising up to her knees.

"It'll be worth it, though. If you manage to get the boy for me, I'll get you Kanna's mirror, Curacova, but you're just going to have to be patient."  
"Patient! Hah! As soon as I have that mirror, I'll be able to do what these stupid, useless detachments of mine could never attempt! I should just be able to disguise myself as this girl, and then steal it, shouldn't I?"  
Yoma laughed.  
"But you'd still be a youkai, and where it is located, the Elder has put a charm that repels creatures such as yourself."

"Fine. But what to do with the girl."  
Yoma held up a rope and smirked. "This tree won't be able to hold her. Go somewhere, tie her up, and make it look like an accident. She's klutzy enough to accidentally get caught in a hunter's trap isn't she?"  
"By the neck?"  
"No. That'd be too obvious. Try the waist."  
Nodding, Curacova slung her over her shoulder, heaved, and started for the forest.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The actual Kai was walking through the forest, shoulders down, watching his feet. His body was aching as though it were on fire, the ground was spitting out his emotions in such a strong wave that every time her name came into his mind, a tree would fall over. Who could blame him?

The rain drops were covering up the few tears that managed to escape his eyes, and though he fought them, he knew the only thing that would make him feel better was to cry out, yell for the Earth to swallow him up and take him away from this horror. He was angry, he was sad, he was all sorts of things.

At Koji, of course… because he had known that Kai had had a thing for Kimihiro, but he kissed her anyway.

At Kimihiro, because she kissed him.

At himself, for getting so worked up about the whole thing.

He punched the closest tree, leaving a slight indentation, but scraping his knuckles to the point that they started bleeding.

But then he felt his sword-spear grow cold inside his pocket. Strange.

He had let some of Kimihiro's blood drip on it right after she had blacked out, and the blade was supposed to grow warm if she was spilling blood, and cold if hers was being spilled. He would now whether she was squashing a bug or if some wacko was trying to kill her. Now the only feeling in him for her was betrayal. The sword-spear could only track one person, so he had waited years after he had received it as a gift to use it for the person who seemed right. And she had seemed right. But if the weapon was correct, he needn't put his own emotions before anyone's life.

Looking at the blade to make sure it wasn't defected, he looked up.

There was a loud coo, and he saw Serafin scaling the sky, northbound. She screeched again, obviously in a frenzy.

"Serafin! HEY! SERAFIN!"

She couldn't hear him, and even if she could, she wouldn't have minded him. Her master was in danger.

Kai found himself running in the direction she was, found himself going faster, until eventually he froze.

Hanging off of a tree limb was a very dead-looking Kimihiro, her blood flowing down the rope and dripping to the ground with a nasty sound.

He felt his body being pumped with adrenaline, and he immediately began climbing, until, within a minute, he got to the top. Taking out the sword-spear, he cut the rope from the top and caught her around the waist before her body hit the ground. Quickly jumping down, he began to undo the bounds around her waist, the blood from the rope staining his fingers. Quickly turning her around to find the blood source, he lifted the back of her shirt and touched the wound softly. She didn't make a sound to complain, but stayed limp, her skin drained of color as her life's liquid flowed easily out of her, the rain stopping the blood from clotting. Almost literally tearing open her backpack to find something to help dress the laceration, he felt the tears almost fly out as he found nothing useful—the bandages she had were meant for minor injuries only, but this cut was deep, as though with a knife.

Finally, finding that he had failed, he cried out, not in words exactly, but in a sad, mournful moan…

And the Seraphim Pet dive-bombed them quickly, immediately hissing over the cut to make it close and nuzzling her shirt so that she could get to the gashes made by the rough bindings. She hissed over those too, and the skin seemed to melt back in place, the bleeding stopped but the blood still covering her. Without a word, Serafin shot off in the opposite direction.

Kai began to shake her. Surely since her blood had clotted she would wake up. But all Serafin could do was close the wound, not bring the blood back to it. He fisted his right hand into a ball and directed it into the ground. A huge indentation of his fist was left.

"Don't die, Kimihiro… don't die on my hands… I promise I'll get back whoever did this to you…Just, please, don't die…"  
Flashes of memories erupted in his mind of screams, his own mother's, of his father's harsh shout as he told her to make sure the kids were safely hidden. Of his mother's attempts to knock the beast that was devouring everyone senseless with spiritual powers. But no, instead, it had chosen to go their way…

There was a scream as it picked her up, about to swallow her and have her join the other villagers… but then his father had chosen to cling onto her as they went up, lashing the monster with the very sword-spear Kai had with him.

And right before it fell and died, it bored a hole through them with its teeth, and the weapon came flying down, the shocked sons who had witnessed the entire thing through the house's window running out to catch it.

And he had caught it.

But the awful memory was etched into his mind, as clear as it was the day it had happened.

He fought back the tears, pressing his head to her heart, listening for a beat, just one would satisfy him…

He heard them. They were weak, but still existent, and he nearly gave out a shout of joy.

"You're alive… Don't die…Stay alive… live…"

He pulled her up to a sitting position, waiting for her to open her eyes.

"Live…"  
She was shaking now, and tears were struggling down her cheeks. He stopped breathing for a second, as she repeated his words, her voice as though she were going through great pain to do so.

"Live…"  
He smiled. "Yes, live…"

"Live…and love…"

He froze. What was happening here? Her eyes were not open, but the tears were pouring now, he could see them against the light drizzle the torrent rain had become. His voice choked, he replied, "Yes…live and love."  
She slowly opened her eyes, revealing to him shining blue orbs, the blood washed away by the rain. "I'm—sorry…Kai, I didn't want—I was being stu-pid…really stupid…I'm so sorry…Forgive me?"

He smiled, "Yea… but don't waste your energy apologizing, hime, it's all right. I'm sure Koji will take good care of y---"

She suddenly shivered. "No, not Koji…" her eyes were leaking again, and her cheeks flushing pink. "You…you… live…and love…"  
He was almost crying now himself. This was just like the sort of thing that happened on soap operas, the guy holding some near-death girl just as she confesses her feelings. Apparently Kimihiro couldn't remember a thing, the last she did was of Koji, and then, after that the pain… the hurt… it was something she had never imagined, like her whole body was on fire, her life's liquid was melting away…

"I—don't wanna hurt anymore…" she whispered.

"I won't let you 'hurt anymore.'"

His smile showed that he was joking, but he was dead serious. It felt like it was his fault. If he had been there, maybe, just maybe, this never would've happened. She'd probably gone out to look for him.

Their noses were touching, his hand holding up her head. He waited for it, patiently nearing her lips when…

"I disappear for ten seconds and you two decide to stop playing hooky and have a make-out session or two. Geesh."  
Serafin stood on her hind legs, abruptly morphing into her humanoid form again, flipping her pale brown hair quickly.

"C'mon, Kimihiro. You said two days. We're going home."  
Kai hadn't even looked at Serafin, his eyes focused on the true angel beneath him.

"N-no…Serafin…just a couple…hours," Kimihiro choked out.

The Seraphim's Pet Rebel frowned at them.  
"I'm leaving then. You dare try anything while she's weak, boy, and there will not be another Kawaichi Chosen for hundred years. Got it?"  
He nodded, and she sped off.

"Kai—"  
"Hm…?"  
"…Like you…"  
"Me too…"

"Go—out with me…?"

"…Yea…"  
Their lips brushed briefly, and he tensed up. When it came to kissing, he was definitely an amateur. He had no idea what to do, this was his first true kiss, and definitely not hers.

"S'okay…Loosen up…" she choked knowingly. He did, diving for her paled lips now.

She smiled on his lips as she gently allowed him in, until he softly probed at her tongue. Shivering, she let her arms gently wrap around his neck as he released her, nipping gently at her lips still.

He smiled back, slowly crawling off of her.

"You need to get on my back, Kimihiro. C'mon."

She tried to get up, but was unsuccessful, and she groaned in pain. Gently lifting her up bridal-style, he brushed his lips against hers again, heading slowly for the village.

'She might just be the one…' 

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

She fell asleep in his arms halfway to the village clinic, her breathing becoming slow and varied. Walking through the streets, he saw people swarming to their windows, eyes wide open as they saw the Kawaichi Chosen carrying a bloody girl through the rain, stopping at the clinic. Looking around for Kayoko, the woman who had always been his nurse when he had gotten sick, he carefully opened the door, leaving a soppy mess of mud, blood, and water at the entrance. The nurse rushed to them, immediately taking Kimihiro off of his hands.

"Are you okay, Kai-sama? And what about the shojo (girl)?"

He closed his eyes and smiled grimly. "Her wounds have been closed by her Seraphim Pet. But she has lost a lot of blood, so I expect you to take good care of her, won't you, Kayoko-san?"  
She nodded. "Hai, I will."

"I want you to be her personal nurse."  
"Hai."

"And when she wakes up, just tell her that I brought her there and that she should rest. She is a Hinoshiba, and quite restless at that, so keep her weapon with her or she will become cross, and if a six-winged angel or a light blue Seraphim's Pet comes to the door, then just let her in with no hesitation, as she is rather short-tempered when her Mistress is in danger. I have been understood?"  
Kayoko squinted. These were the strangest set of instructions she had ever received from anyone.

"Hai. But… what happened to her?"  
"That," he said, his green eyes glowering down at the nurse with his suddenly superior nature, "I don't know. But she was hanging off of a tree by her waist. Someone must have attempted to end her."  
The nurse nodded vigorously before walking over to the bed that Kimihiro was lying in. Kai stopped her. "Wait."

Digging into the pockets of his jeans, he pulled out a bundle of bills.

"Here. 100,000 yen should cover her care."  
Kayoko felt the money being pressed into her hands.

"Oh, Kai-sama, I cannot take this…"

"Then give it to charity, for all I care, but make sure the girl is taken care of. Sayonara."  
And with that, he left the building, the glass door slamming shut.

Kayoko stared down at the little girl left in her care. Yes, he was right, she was a Hinoshiba. Apparently no one had noticed, or cared to, because she clearly had their weapon strapped around her arm and their features. Pretty, but not with a stunning figure, slim, flexible, with dark hair and light, airy, eyes. The personaility differed, of course, to each person his own, but the last one that had visited the village had been quiet, but very spunky. What about this one?  
After the thoughts, she began to feel increasingly guilty. Kai had told her how he felt being goggled at like a two-headed gorilla at a zoo, and there she was doing it to the poor girl. She laughed at herself as she checked her pulse and began checking whether the blood left in her would be sufficient.  
It was, but she knew that the girl would remain anemic for a few days. But with a couple medical treatments and a few medicines, she would be up and ready.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Koji sat comfortably in the sofa, thinking over all that had just happened. It was obvious that she had just done that to prove to him that she wasn't attached to anyone, but still.

It was amazing.

And the look on his little brother's face was to die for.

So when he came back into the house with a grim smile on his face, he jolted up. He was supposed to be sulking, not grinning.

"What's up?" he said casually to Kai as he walked through the kitchen.

"Nothin'." The answer was short, but there was a hint of pride in his voice.

"There's something, I know it."

Kai walked over, draining the glass of water he had just poured for himself.

"Listen. Hands off of Kimihiro, 'kay? She's mine." It had come suddenly, and he knew how much she didn't like to be considered somebody else's possession. But he had to make it clear to his brother that there would be no more touchy-feely on her, no more games being played.

"What do you mean she's yours? She kissed me to make sure that I understood that she wasn't. Kimihiro is a nomad; listen. She probably doesn't like commitment."

"Then why is she thousands of miles away from home, here, in our village, if she isn't _committed _to her family's task! Listen, Koji, she's different. You can have any chic you want in this place that'll want you back, but not her. If I see you all over her like that again, I promise I will forget all relations and personally kill you."

Koji braced himself, standing up. "You are? Well, let me show you how scared I am, little brother…!" He shoved him- hard. Kai staggered back a couple steps.

"I'm not going to fight you mindlessly like a monkey. I'm just going to warn you."

"Well, there's no need to warn anyone, 'cuz she apparently likes me more, judging that she lipped me and not you!"  
He grunted. "I'm sorry, Koji, but Kimihiro is now _my girl. _There is nothing you can do about it. So get over it. And I'll warn you again. If you touch her, I'll kill you."  
With that, he turned on one heel and headed out the door. Koji ran after him, fuming with every step. That was just great. Finally there the village got hold of some pretty, spunky girl around their age and he snaps her up within 48 hours. Nothing was fair around there, he realized. But something was going to be left for him. Quietly stalking after his brother, he took off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I dunno what you could call this chappie, bloody, angsty, straight-up awesome…

I'm very proud of it. Very much so, I am. So help me well up in enough pride to update again and review, okay? It's just an itty-bitty favor I'm asking from you, cuz I don't see how some of those sucky stories (I won't give examples lest I be flamed some more) get hundreds of reviews and I don't. I'm envious, and I'll admit it.

Ah, well. Mom always said be happy with whatcha got.

Oh, by the way, Riakel or whatever the hay your name is?  
I didn't ask for flames, 'kay? Sorry if you are a Kanna fan, but if that's the only part of the story you read it's not my problem. But it is my story and I'm not going to change it because of a minor detail that was mentioned in the earlier chapters. I don't hate Kanna, but I luv Kagura and she was the first other detachment that came to mind. And you haven't even found out what happens to her at the end of her life in my fic. Maybe if you did, you wouldn't be showering me, a poor writer who's trying to use every ounce of her friggin' creativity to create this fic, with fire.

Flame me again, and I'll get gruesome.

Off the sour note now (I hate being flamed, it makes me want to strangle something), thanx again to all my reviewers…. Yada yada yada…

And I'm glad DEB thinks that Koji sounds delicious. So what is he, the main course or appetizer? Ha, ha, bad pun, awful pun, but at least _I _think it's funny.

I'm gonna be posting a San/Mir one-shot in a while, so if you're interested, just look me up and search for it. I haven't exactly named it yet. Suggestions for an modern fic… a name is what I need.

Ah, sadly, I didn't get my 12 reviews, but I'm updating anyways, I guess I'm too nice for my own good.

Arigauto,

Tetsuna.


	10. Dance Dance

Chapter 10?  
I haven't been keeping track of the chapters… sweatdrops….

You know the drill.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The sun was gently setting over the hill, illuminating the leaves on the trees of the forest. Kai gently walked up to the clinic, opening the door to see that it was already packed tight.

He was taken aback, looking around for anyone with any sign of an injury, but there wasn't even a person with a scrape in there. And most of the people were goggling through the glass at one of the patients.

Kimihiro.

"Kayoko!" he yelled out, and most of the people turned to him. "What's going on?"

The nurse frantically rushed through the crowd, pushing a few people aside, her hat lopsided.

"Kai-sama…it seems as though word as gotten out that your friend is a Hinoshiba."

'It seemed' that she was right. But it annoyed him to see them looking at her like an interesting specimen under a microscope. If she wasn't sleeping… yes, she wasn't. A person in actual slumber would turn occasionally, she was as still as a rock.

He rudely moved through the mass, yelling, "Move it!" as he did, obviously unhappy. Opening the door of the room, he quickly walked in, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Hey. Kimi. You awake?"

She stirred, her crystal blue eyes shining, showing clearly that she most certainly had not been truly sleeping. "Yea… too much noise, though …what's up?" He shrugged. "Other than the ceiling, and that," he pointed unceremoniously outside the glass windows at the people (one of whom immediately started arguing with her friend and insisting that he had pointed at her), "There's nothing up."

She smiled, seeing what he was talking about, tossed her legs over the bed. "Wanna give them a bit of a show?"

'Yes… we could teach them a lesson and have our own fun at the same time… Shippou needs to learn not to walk in on people in their more—private times…' 

'_Hm… I strongly agree…'_

"Define, 'show.'"

Rubbing her eyes, she flipped her hair and said a little loudly, "Hey, Kai-kun."

His eyes widened. 'Kun' wasn't the usual suffix used for him.

"Hey, hime Kimi…" She bit back a frown at being called a 'princess' again. "How was your nap?"

She nodded, "All right," then smirking evilly, "But I was hoping to wake up with you next to me…"

There was a bustle in the audience.

"You were, weren't you? Well I'm sorry I didn't give you that pleasure, can I make it up to you?"

She bit her lip and said, "I suppose so…"

He drew the curtain, hiding them from view, then exploded into laughter along with her.

"You _know _what those sick-minded bozos are going to be thinking…"

"Sound effects?"

"Nah… that'd be getting dirty…"  
She laughed again, the color returning to her face… but stopped with Kai's next comment.

"But why don't we make good use of this bit of privacy, no?"

"You are a wacko… but I guess I can live with that…"

She grinned as she put her arms around his neck and his around her waist and boosted herself up slightly, softly capturing him in a cool embrace, her lips fusing with his own. They stood there for a minute, taking in each other's taste… and she opened her eyes slightly, releasing him to take in a breath.

"Oh man… is it over yet?" he whispered seductively, and she shook her head as she dove in again, his hands pulling around her tighter, pushing her against him.

"Oh dear!" Kayoko said as she opened the door. "I was thinking it was just a joke, but apparently, you and your latest 'friend' were being serious… Kai-sama, I suggest you get here and try to get everyone to calm down, half of them are running out to tell the Elder that you're banging in the patient waiting area."

The way she said it, neither could help but blow up in laughter, and when they did, they fell forcefully on top of each other. A man squeezed behind Kayoko with a camera, quickly snapping the situation before she managed to thump him upside the head to send him out.

"Look at the mess you've gotten yourself into, I always knew something like this would happen," the nurse said, shaking her head. Kai chuckled, lifting himself up.

"Let them say what they want," he said, helping Kimihiro up, who was still red from laughter, "this is the first time I'm actually glad that I'm attracting attention. Everyone will be bustling around the place, shouting about how 'Mr. Kai-sama-sir' is probably bonking a girl in his spare time, and then they'll feel so stupid when they find out its not true! HA! Life is so good…"

"But, ironically, people, like yourself, are so bad!" Kimihiro placed her hands firmly on her hips.

"_Get _a life, Kimihiro. I assure you you'd enjoy it…"

They both burst into giggles. Kayoko pointed a finger at the door, whispering, "'though two red-faced youth won't be the thing that you'd really want for your reputation, 'Mr. Kai-sama-sir…'" (if ya know what I mean…)

Walking out of the room, Kimihiro clasped a hand over her mouth before, not being able to withhold it, whispering in his ear, "Gosh, Kai… I had no idea you were going to be so _big…"  
_They both nearly fell apart, stomachs aching from laughing their heads off, and faces like tomatoes.

Finally, they managed to comport themselves, and they ran through what was left of the

crowd and stopped outside. Shading her eyes, she looked down at her watch.

"Oh man…"  
He looked at her. "What?"

"Serafin's going to be here in a moment. It's been two days, Kai… I need to visit my mother."

"Oh." His face fell.

"Yea. So, I guess I'll see you, then."

"Guess so."

"I'll visit."

"H-hm."

"Bye."

"Bye… wait!"  
She turned around before just as she was about to leave.

"What?"

"C-can I come with you? You know… for just a couple hours, maybe?"

He sounded like a hopeful little kid asking his mother whether he could go to Chuck E. Cheese's. She grinned at the way his eyes widened into saucers, before finally heaving.

"I'm sure my mother won't mind…"  
_'I **know **my mother won't mind…'_

He grinned.

"However… you have to agree to do one thing."

"What?"  
Her smile became mischievous as she let the words escape her mouth.

"You have to come with me to the school dance. I entered into the annual school dance competition, and it'd be a real shocker if it was a two-person dance other than one. Oh… and I have a dance recital tonight, that's why I'm in a hurry."  
He stared at her with wide eyes, before looking down.

"But—I don't know how to dance."

She laughed. "No worries. The sensei is great, she'll get you on the floor in minutes. Are you in? Or would you rather stay here with Yoma dearest?"  
At the mention of Yoma, Kai stiffened. "I'm in."

"Shake on it."  
He grabbed Kimihiro's hand and shook it vigorously, a determined look on his face. She looked slightly amused, as though she found the thought of the Kawaichi Chosen 'breaking it down' at a school dance funny.

Ironically, she did.

Stuffing two fingers into her mouth, she took a deep breath and whistled. It was silent for a second, then the wind seemed to pick up around them as Serafin slid onto the land. There were some oo's and aah's from some of the people who were still around the area, but then Serafin growled, scaring half of them away.

"Serafin," Kimihiro started, "Double load today. Do you mind?"

Serafin seemed to shrug. "Feh. I knew you'd end up bringing him home."

Kai spoke up. "It was a deal we made."

He wouldn't take Serafin's teasing today, no way.

Apparently, the Beast didn't care that much; she just slapped her tail against the ground- hard, signaling that they should climb on. Grabbing hold of one of Serafin's legs, Kimihiro tossed her legs over to rest on her back, before helping Kai do the same. As soon as both teenagers were positioned safely on her back, the Beast set off into the sky.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Koji swore under his breath, tearing off his coat and pulling out the camera. Ah well, since she had that terrified look on her face and he was laughing in that picture where they landed on each other, so many tales could be made.

0o0o0o0o00o0000o0o0o0o0o0o

They settled at the doorstep of the small, white cottage, one that could never have been suspected to hold such traditionally important people. Serafin shrunk down to the size of a puppy, and wrapped her tail around Kimihiro's ankles as she removed her now rather dirty sneakers.

"Wipe your feet on the doormat," Kimihiro ordered, as she brought her knuckles to the door.

There was a moment of silence, and then finally the door swung open, and Kimihiro found herself pulled into her mother's embrace.

"Kimihiro! You're back… I was beginning to wonder whether you'd make it… Are you all right? Have you gotten hurt? Anything new on Curacova?"

Nearly suffocating, Kimihiro let out, "Well… I've been hurt four times; we've been attacked by one of Curacova's minions… but that's about it." She purposely left out the parts about Yoma, not wanting to make her mother upset.

She finally released her daughter.

"You have? Four times in two days? Tell me everything! Are you hurt still? Oh.. I knew I shouldn't have let you go on such a dangerous journey…"

"Well, I've been bitten in the leg, kicked in the stomach, stabbed in the back, nearly choked to death…"

"Choked?"

"Yea, by you…"

"Well, sorry…"  
Kai watched them from the side, his heart aching as he saw her mother give her the affection he had not gotten since he was a child. He looked up as her mother suddenly turned to him, a strange look of excitement/hunger on her face as her eyes darted across the symbol on his jacket.

"How could I be so rude… Ms. Hinoshiba, Kimihiro's mother, come in."

Serafin slipped between his legs, suddenly bounding into the living room. There was a loud yelp that belonged to a cat, and a minute later, the feline and the Seraphim's Pet were rolling all over the floor, playfully trying to beat each other up.

"Kai. Nice to meet you."  
He was surprised at how much her mother looked like her, other than the short, cut hair, and the brown eyes, and slight wrinkles showing her middle-age, they were exactly alike. Same height, same build…

He stepped inside the cozy home, discarding his shoes as well.

Ms. Hinoshiba thumped onto the couch, resting her head against the back.

"So… who are you to Kimihiro?"

That was a tough question. It seemed awkward to just burst out and say, "her boyfriend," since she had only met him two days before, and equally as strange to say, "friend," because Kimihiro might not choose to accept that.

"Her companion."  
Kimihiro sighed inwardly. At least he didn't say something blunt. Her mother nodded. "Sit down."  
Then, to Kimihiro, "Miss Yoshii called. She asked if you remembered what to wear, and to be at the studio at 7:30."

"What time is it?"

"7:00. Half an hour more, so I suggest you get a move on."

"Snap!"  
Shooting up from her seat, she dashed past them and disappeared into the corridor, slamming the door. Kai stared back in the direction in which she left. Gulping slowly, he turned to face her mother, his grin competed with Koji's in terms of mischievousness.

"Ah. So… are you just her companion?"  
Kai gulped.

"Boyfriend," he finally mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

"Thank you, that's better. Now, I want you to tell me exactly what has happened to my daughter, do you hear? If _you _did anything to her, then tell me. Leave nothing out, or I'll kick you out of my house." As she continued speaking, her playful smile gradually dissolved into a serious, flat expression, and she glowered down at him. He gulped again. Remembering the places that his mischievous little hand had wandered to on her daughter's body, he thought of ways to squeeze those bits out of the story. But, without them, it seemed as though their adventure would fall apart, as one thing always leads to another.

So he told her everything. His voice had wavered when it came to his least favorite parts, and he had avoided her gaze the entire time, but he had said the truth, and every bit of it.

"Thank you," she said, smiling again. "So you are the Kawaichi Chosen. Interesting. Very much so. But of course, I won't bug you about it. In fact, don't even use your powers around here. I don't want you to become a part of a circus or anything." She stood, tugging lightly on one of his cheeks.

"Besides, you're a cute kid, I like you. I don't want to send you home in a wreck."

Just then, the phone rang.

Ms. Hinoshiba picked it up casually, "Moshi moshi."

Her face reddened as she listened to the person on the line. "Ah… I'm sorry, Kuranoske, but Kimihiro's not exactly available anymore. Arigauto. Oh… no problem, I'll tell her you called."

She placed the phone down just as Kimihiro came into the room, tugging on her sneakers.

Kai held back a gasp; she looked—awesome.

She had this black leather cap that was tilted slightly on her head, a green tank top that didn't have a strap on one side, with the word,'Butterfly' sprayed in black and white on the front, and a pair of capri jeans. So he could never have managed that type of 'look' on her. But still… when he saw it… it was beautiful.

Seeing the funny look on Kai's face, she bent over shyly and said, "You like?"

"I love…"

"Well, you'll have to 'love the look' when I'm on stage. C'mon, mother, we're going to be late, and Miss Yoshi will be cross if I miss a recital; I've already missed the final practice."  
Grabbing her mother's hands and dropping her keys into her hand, she tugged her along.

Then, to Kai, who was still sitting on the sofa and staring, "Are you going to come or just sit on the sofa drooling?"

"Either one is fine with me…"  
Releasing her mother's hand, she stomped over to him and yanked him up by the arm. Hooking arms with him, she pulled him out of the door, and, waving goodbye to Serafin and the cat, locked it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Stepping into their bright red Toyota Camry, Ms. Hinoshiba started up the engine, making sure both kids were inside, before dropping them off at the studio.

"Ask Ms. Yoshi if she'll take Kai to the amphitheater too; I'm on my way there. See you in about half an hour," she said, adding under her breath, "you silly love-sick teens."

"Okaan-san! I heard that!"

She grabbed his hand again, and leading him behind her, opened the door of the studio. His ears were greeted to the sound of music, loud, and his eyes to about four other girls in the same outfit as her. One of them, a girl with reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes, squealed at the sight of them and rushed out in the middle of their practice dance to give Kimihiro a bear hug.

"Kimi! Oh my gosh, where have you been? I called your house- no answer. I wait for school- you don't come. I practice my butt off at dance—and you don't even care to join me!"

Kimihiro grinned, releasing her. "Oh, ixsnay on the nagging, Tamiya. It was just two days."  
Kai shifted uncomfortably behind her. The red-head turned to face him, the smile melting off of her lips.

"Who are _you?_" She glared at him, and he instinctively glared back. Seeing the two in a game of 'I-can-glare-you-to-death-faster,' Kimihiro shifted between them, grabbing Kai's hand and squeezing it behind her back.

"This is…" she sighed at the way Tamiya was staring at their interlocked hands in disgust,

"Kai." He finished it for her, not liking the way this girl was looking at him.

"Boyfriend?"

"…Yea…"

Tamiya looked up at him, then at her. "You know your reputation has just fallen down and shattered into a million pieces, right?" Then, addressing him, "You've set a record, K-a-i. You're the first guy Kimihiro's agreed to go out with in four years. So feel proud of yourself. Rejoice. Jump up and down, for all I care. C'mon Kimi. We've got to start practicing."

She tugged Kimihiro away from him, and he walked up to the glass windows, trying to crane his neck to watch. The music started again, after Kimihiro had said something to the teacher.

The girls positioned themselves, Kimihiro in the middle, Tamiya directly behind her, and two unknown girls at her sides. They seemed to form some strange sort of square with it, their eyes closed, walking in circles as they tilted their hats down.

_Ay ay ay, Ay ay ay, Ay ay ay_

_Where's my Samurai?_

At the first word, they're heads shot up, and they started moving, on cue. They didn't even twist their hips, but their feet made a beat against the floor, constantly moving, not stopping… it was all making him dizzy. They didn't stop… it was like this,

Step-step,

Stomp-stomp,

Turn…

_(Music)_

The rhythm was smooth… he had never been much for music, but this was really something. They started walking around again, then Kimihiro came in front for the chorus. Crossing her feet over each other, then twisting around to face the other side, still moving, never stopping, as the dance instructor stood in front shouting out, "And one, and two, and three. And four!" At the top of her lungs, flailing her arms about in a constant rhythm.

_I was searching for a man_

_All across Japan_

_Just to find you, Sama-samurai._

_Someone who is strong,_

_But still a little shy,_

_Yes I need my, need my samurai._

_Ay ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly,_

_Green black and blue_

_Make the colors of the sky._

_  
Ay, ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly, _

_Green, black and blue _

_Make the colors in the sky._

Now they touched the tips of their hats again, tilting them, then lifting them enough that you could see their faces. He watched his Kimihiro's eyes locked on his, a strange look of hunger in them that made him shiver. But then he realized that it was just part of the routine, that everyone was doing it, it was making the dance all of a sudden so tantalizing… even though the song was so cute and innocent.

_(music)_

_I was searching in the woods_

_And high up on the hills _

_Just to find you sama-samurai._

_Someone who won't regret_

_To keep me in this net,_

_Yes, I need my, need my samurai. _

He finally breathed as the second verse ended, as the girls went for a beat with their feet again. Step up, step back, jump from foot to foot from the side, lifting their hands to the sides of their hats and turning their heads with each jump, finally going back in their square and moving in a circular motion again.

_Ay ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly,_

_Green black and blue_

_Make the colors of the sky._

_  
Ay, ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly, _

_Green, black and blue _

_Make the colors in the sky._

_Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay,_

_Where's my samurai?_

_Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay,_

_Where's my samurai?_

_Oh…_

_Ah…_

_Oh…_

Kai felt another presence behind him, another guy, with dark hair and bangs.

"You come here often to watch them?"  
Kai didn't even bother to looked up, totally disinterested in anything other than the dance.

"No… my first time, actually."  
The boy sighed, peering through the glass at them, just as the chorus started again.

_Oh…_

_Ah…_

_Oh…_

_Ay ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly,_

_Green black and blue_

_Make the colors of the sky._

_  
Ay, ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly, _

_Green, black and blue _

_Make the colors in the sky._

_Ay ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly,_

_Green black and blue_

_Make the colors of the sky._

_  
Ay, ay, ay!_

_I'm your little butterfly, _

_Green, black and blue _

_Make the colors in the sky._

The music continued as the words stopped, and the girls formed a straight horizantal line, heads down and holding caps again, before finally pulling them off their heads and tossing them to the floor, letting the hats slide to a stop, strangely enough, at the same place.

"Wonderful, almost perfect!" The teacher said, as the girls, still heaving and out of breath, went forward to retrieve their hats.

Kimihiro winked at Kai, who was still leaning over by the glass, his chin resting on his hand.

The other boy smiled.

"I used to go out with her… but then… we had a couple problems…" the boy suddenly spoke up. "She plays hard to get, you know… she actually hasn't dated anyone in four years…and the fact that she's hot doesn't exactly ward anyone off…"  
Kai nodded, not caring. It wasn't his business to break the news to this guy.

So when Kimihiro opened the door out of the dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck, she didn't even look at the guy, though Kai suspected he'd probably turned a couple shades of blue.

"So… what'd you think…?"

"That was--amazing. You didn't tell me you could dance… like, whoa, like that!" He grinned as she pecked him softly, saying, "Surprise…"  
The boy who was talking to Kai looked at him with this scared, wide-eyed, open-mouthed expression. Kimihiro let go of Kai, looking over at him.

"Oh, hi Kuranoske… I see you've met Kai. Well, anyway, Kai, Miss Yoshi says its okay if you ride with us, but she always warned that if you tried anything with any of the girls she'd personally neuter you…and mind you, if you do, I'll help her do it."  
He gulped as he thought of life without his family jewels.

"Tell her thanks… I guess…"

Kuranoske… that name was familiar… and ever since she had mentioned it, it had been running through his mind…

Miroku awakened for a minute inside him at the name, his dormancy's reign ending abruptly…

'_Kuranoske, huh? Here too! It could be just coincidence that that is this boy's name… but if he too comes between Sango and I, I will end him… Last time, I let it go, as long as she was happy, but now, she seems perfectly content. If he tries to take her from me again…'_

Kuranoske. He didn't even now the guy, but he already despised the name. This was his rival, then?

"You can do that when we see her; we're leaving **now.** C'mon!"  
Tugging on his arm, she pulled him towards the dance instructor, leaving Kuranoske alone, gaping after them.

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"Thank you, Miss—"

"Yoshii," the woman finished it for him, her hair up in a ponytail. "Or, seeing that you shouldn't be much older than me, I suppose you could call me Ayumi."

She wasn't kidding, the woman was barely twenty, and it was strange for her students to be just four or so years younger than her. But she loved dance, and she would always promote it and 'her girls' were better than an group she could ever imagine having.

"And I promise you I won't do anything that'll will end in my being impotent."

"Technically, you already are, since I am still your senior, therefore you are powerless to me."

He smiled slightly; he knew she knew what he had meant.

Moving into her large SUV with the four other girls, he positioned himself between Kimihiro and another one of the girls that he didn't know. It was awkward, sitting in an SUV with all ladies, he felt like a player. He knew how much Koji would probably pay to be in the position he was in at the moment, but perhaps without that one vixen breathing down his neck.

Suddenly, Miss Yoshi braked quickly (and said a couple 'words' to the driver in front of her who had stopped abruptly). Kai tensed as he felt one of the girls behind his giggle and throw her arms around his neck.

"Hey, you're cute, what' s your name?"

He politely removed her arms. "Kai. Kimihiro's…"

"Kimihiro's boyfriend." He turned to see that Tamiya was glaring angrily at the girl, a tall brunette. "I ask that you don't touch him, unless you want me or my best friend to jump you after the recital."

Miss Yoshi turned to face them. "Now, now, none of this bickering, or I'll throw the boy out of the car."  
He gulped, for about the 5th time since he had come to her town.

The dance instructor looked outside the window as she was short-circuited by a laughing, toothless, bald man, who, by the way, was driving extra-slowly once he got in front of her.

"Old man! Go faster!" she yelled out at him, and apparently he heard, because, if it were possible, he slowed down even more. Heaving, she short-circuited the man as well, who stopped laughing, stuck a toothpick in his mouth, and repeated the pattern. Finally getting fed up, Miss Yoshii crossed to the grass on the side of the road, revving up her engine until she was about 1/6 of a mile away from him, before joining the road again, which, thankfully, was almost completely empty. Before the old man could tail them again, she turned left, and drove toward the community college, the girls bustling now, getting ready, with Kai sitting helplessly between them.

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I tried to make this chapter long. I think its pretty cute, and now that you've met Kuranoske the real action is going to start. I'm pretty sure you know what he meant by impotent, but I'll tell ya anyway—unable to have kids. Yea. This chappie was mainly for laughs, not much drama at all, just really dumb, funny, clutzy parts, including a little meeting of the parents…

And another reason is I'm bored and wanna go straight back to the villages right after the dance. But really, the chains in Kimihiro's area are my least favorite. Boring to write, and I think I get carried away. But he cares…

I think I'm gonna teach Kai how to dance. I need a song name, I was going to use Simple and Clean, but I think I should use something other than DDR or a theme. Ah well… Do you want him to stink? Do you want the dance to be seductive, quickly moving, or just with him standing and her doing all the work. (By the way, DDR owns Butterfly, and that is like one of the coolest (and most sweaty) games ever! Don't agree with me cuz you stink at it? Not my problem.)

I have no clue what I'm doing outside of the village. I don't like this chapter myself very much, but hey! Sorry for the late update, but school's started, and its hard to keep up with work let alone fics.

Ashiteru,

Tetsuna


End file.
